Mentoring: Getting to know your Mentor

If you have been lucky enough to get a formal mentor through an internal or external mentoring scheme or if you are trying to build a stronger mentoring relationship with one of your existing contacts it is important that you:

• get to know your mentor
• prepare for your mentoring meetings
• have a plan or a set of goals; and
• review as you go along.

Getting to know your mentor

The first of these – getting to know your mentor – is essential. Getting to know the person will help you build your relationship with them. Also, once you have got to know them better you will be better placed to establish some goals to work on based on your mentor’s own experience.

You will of course already have your personal reasons for wanting a mentor and you may already have specific goals in mind, but getting to know you mentor will help you fine tune these goals to make sure that you are maximising their time with you.

Preparation

Before you have your first meeting with your mentor you should take some time to prepare for the meeting. This involves two key things:

1. Work out what you want out of the relationship. What are your personal objectives? What do you want to achieve?
2. Do your research. Google your mentor, find out about their career to date and think about what you will want to ask them.

Things to talk about

At your first meeting with your mentor you should take the time to simply get to know them better in an informal / relaxed environment. This should include things like:

• work history;
• interests and key personal but professional facts (provided they are willing to share);
• why they are interested in being a mentor / What drives or motivates them;
• what their own ambitions and goals are;
• achievements;
• life experiences;
• style of working and how you can work better together;
• share expectations of the mentoring relationship.

You should just let the conversation flow naturally as if you were meeting anyone for the first time and you can talk about al sorts of things, but it is key to nail down these few points. As a mentee you will also want to explain to them what you want to get out of the relationship and where you think they will be able to help you which will ultimately open up the conversation further.