No professional is an island: Yes, a mentor really can benefit your career

Upon first consideration, the notion of finding a mentor may seem pretty silly. Generally speaking, people prefer independence over codependency; why assign yourself yet another boss to answer to? 

Therein lies a major cause of mentor misconceptions. While it’s understandable why many people tend to conflate mentors with managers, a genuine mentor-mentee relationship is characterized by equity not one-sided authority. A good mentor is a partner, not another boss; a mentor should never deliver mandates to their mentee or make their lives harder, quite the opposite in fact. True mentors guide and advise their mentees, lending their personal experiences and relevant industry knowledge for their younger counterpart’s benefit. 

Luke Skywalker and Yoda. Dumbledore and Harry Potter. There are countless examples of the mentor-mentee relationship in popular media. While it isn’t likely that a real-life professional mentor will wield any literal magic, they just might be able to pull off a trick or two in their mentee’s favor. Mentors routinely reach out to organizations on behalf of their mentees to help secure interviews or attention, and are usually provided reference number one on all applications. 

Experts of today, experts of tomorrow

Besides all that, though, sometimes it’s just beneficial to have an experienced friend to bounce ideas off of. One study published in New Ideas in Psychology named support from a mentor as one of five essentials necessary when it comes to becoming elite at one’s chosen field. In case you’re wondering, the other four essentials include positivity, grit, diligent training, and passion. Case in point, even the most dedicated professionals still stand to benefit from following up with an experienced mentor. Sometimes an outside perspective can breathe new life into ideas, and what better perspective than that of an expert?

Mentors & goal-sharing

Sharing your goals can help make them a reality, but that doesn’t mean you should go blabbing about your life’s ambitions with just anyone. A relevant piece of research published in the Journal of Applied Psychology tells us sharing objectives with others can help us find the motivation to reach our goals – if we share our aspirations with people we genuinely look up to and whose opinions we respect. We all have days when motivation might as well be pixie dust. Connecting with a mentor and habitually discussing your long-term career goals is a great way to keep yourself accountable.

The earlier the better

While it’s never too late to seek out a mentor, a number of scientific studies suggest having a mentor early in life can pay career dividends later on. One such project, published in Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning, paired up a group of graduate students with older professionals already working in their chosen field. Exchanging ideas with mentors helped the pupils form a more comprehensive understanding of their future profession, feel more confident about their own career prospects, and cultivate more passion for the work. 

Another study released in the American Journal of Community Psychology tells us young adults who have mentors in their late teens and early 20s tend to land jobs earlier in their careers featuring more autonomy and overall responsibility in comparison to others who never had a mentor.

What to look for in a mentor

What makes for a great mentor? Besides the obvious traits like experience, success, and expert-level skill, truly helpful mentors are fantastic communicators and stellar listeners. Trustworthiness is another key trait for any healthy mentor-mentee relationship. Mentees need to feel that information they divulge to a mentor will be kept confidential. Plans to seek out a new job, or even an entirely new career path, for example. 

A mentor should always be an advocate for their mentee, but that shouldn’t mean sugarcoating the truth. Sometimes we all need to hear things we don’t necessarily want to hear. Great mentors don’t shy away from uncomfortable conversations with their mentees, as oftentimes it’s those types of interactions that facilitate the most personal and professional growth.