How to find someone to mentor?
- What do you do to find someone to mentor?
- Anything that's worked really well?
- Anything that's not worked well?
- What do you do to qualify a potential mentee to make sure both you and they will be successful?
I recently saw a talk by someone L8 at my company. They believe everyone should mentor someone. It's not only a great way to improve at growing others, but also a great way to grow yourself.
So I'd like to try it out but am not entirely sure how to get started.
P.S. Yes, I've Googled this already. Asking a more vague question here because I've found all you tend to give really good insights that I'd never think of even asking for.
![Entry-Level Software Engineer [L3] at Google company logo](/_next/image/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffirebasestorage.googleapis.com%2Fv0%2Fb%2Ftech-career-growth.appspot.com%2Fo%2Fcompany_logos%252Fgoogle.jpeg%3Falt%3Dmedia%26token%3D780356ef-3efc-4728-9eb4-d909b75bb4a6&w=48&q=75){kind=small}
![Entry-Level Software Engineer [L3] at Google company logo](/_next/image/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffirebasestorage.googleapis.com%2Fv0%2Fb%2Ftech-career-growth.appspot.com%2Fo%2Fcompany_logos%252Fgoogle_logo.png%3Falt%3Dmedia%26token%3Dded981a0-71c9-42a4-a03e-a2299a0a11b8&w=48&q=75){kind=logo}
Discussion
(4 comments)- 4
10 months agoML Engineer InternComing from someone who would like a mentor, I agree with the responses here, an important thing in my opinion is to find someone with a similar background/experience/shared struggles to yours
At the end of the day, we are all a product of our own experiences/struggles. Trying to mentor someone with a really different background/struggles can be challenging
Often when mentors are able to relate to what I'm struggling with, I notice that they work with me the best
- 310 months agoMid-Level Software Engineer at Other
Look at google's internal mentorship platform too.
- 110 months agoFractional CTO, Board Advisor, & VC Tech Advisor
I guess it depends on what you want out of a mentee. Minimally, I'd probably want someone who is on an aggressive career path forward, but needs help. Typically there's also gonna be a personality match where you both just work well-together and styles of mentoring and learning match up.
That said, generally just getting diverse perspectives bring a better worldview and is something you want to see in company executives.
Since I'm an entrepreneur, I just hop on LinkedIn and say I've got time free, hand out my calendly, and just help whoever needs it.
From a personal branding perspective, this makes you a leader that people will flock to for learning new things and the bigger you go the better in my mind. - 110 months agoTech Lead @ Robinhood, Meta, Course Hero
What do you do to find someone to mentor?
As someone who's mentored a ton of engineers (it was big part of my promotion/growth at Meta), the process is actually pretty straightforward:
- You notice people in your team and sister teams who have a lot of promise that get along well with you
- You reach out to them to see if they want additional support
- They almost certainly say yes, and then you start mentoring them
There's also the "free" way of getting a mentee which is applying for an intern. But interns are tricky as you don't control their initial quality.
In terms of finding good mentees, your #1 priority is to find someone who is coachable. You shouldn't really care about their current skill level: The most important thing is that they've shown an ability to improve themselves and have a healthy mentality around growth. Here's a good discussion thread from the perspective of a mentee on how to spot those attributes: "How does one attract a sponsor who is invested in their growth?"
After you find some mentees, check out the advice here: [Taro Top 10] Effective Mentorship And Growing Others
