How to be a career mentor [infographic]

Finding career fulfillment, whether that is getting a raise or a promotion or just feeling joy from doing something meaningful, can be a challenge. But becoming a career mentor could be one way to find that job satisfaction you’ve been looking for and as a bonus help you with professional development. 

As a mentor, on top of answering questions, you will also provide your mentee with career guidance, share your expertise and knowledge, and help support their professional and even personal goals.

Mentorship will not only get you closer to achieving career fulfillment, but it can also come with other benefits. Some of those benefits include increased salary potential, higher promotion likelihood, and personal reward. Such benefits help career success and job satisfaction, as well as, make you feel more confident in your abilities.

Three tips on how to be a career mentor

If you decided that being a mentor will be beneficial for you career and personal development, and are wondering where to begin, here are a tips to get you started: 

1. Learn what type of mentor are you

Mentorship starts with learning more about yourself. What kind of person are you and what kind of mentor do you want to be? The cheerleader? The Advocate? You can check out five common types of mentors below and see what mentorship style fits best for you. Knowing your mentorship style will help you successfully guide your mentee.

2. Set clear expectations

Your mentee should have some goals for the partnership , but so should you. Setting clear expectations helps keep your mentorship on track. It allows you and your mentee to achieve desired outcomes and goals.  

3. Make professional connections

You might not have the answers to everything right away So, building connections with people with relevant expertise is very important. By building relationships with people with different backgrounds and experiences, you will be able to help your mentee by providing them more knowledge and advice.

Become a career-changing mentor

If you want to dive deeper into how to become a career-changing mentor and learn what are the best and worst qualities to have, as well as ways to make a difference for you mentee, Mint does a great job at sharing that on the infographic below. 

This infographic was created by Mint.