What is the best way to approach a mentor in Quality Assurance?

Approaching a mentor in Quality Assurance, here are some tips that might help: Start with your team/ network as tones of trust will be built, by Looking for people in your network who have experience in Quality Assurance and who you think would be a good fit as a mentor. communicate with them since you identified potential mentors, contact them, share your ideas, and learn from them and others if any. Ensure that you respect them to gain more, be a good listener, express your feedback in full respect to what they say, and do not criticize, be sure before you do, and maintain your relations and communication.

To find a suitable mentor in Quality Assurance and any other field 1. One must identify their area of interest i.e the area or areas they need to be mentored. 2.Identify first within one's network, the professionals who have demonstrated the knowledge and application of the skill you need mentorship on.Consider their achievements, values they stand for, professionalism and willingness to mentor others. 3. Willingness and availability are two different things. For a mentor- mentee relationship to work, availability of both parties is crucial.Each party has to be intentional in playing their part. 4. When the above is clear, then engagement can start.

Many professional and learned societies run mentoring schemes for members, e.g. the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Chartered Quality Institute in the UK. If you belong to one of these organisations - or similar, they can help find you the right mentor for you.

Develop a firm rapport with your mentor Be open to share your fears and weaknesses Be inquisitive through out the journey Love the field of QA, QMS and systems

Contacting a mentor is important to establish a productive and positive relationship to: 1. To build a rapport with a potential mentor, it is important to understand the person's professional accomplishments, background, and expertise. Social media like LinkedIn is a great tool to research a mentor in QA. 2. Clearly express your interest and be articulate about your reasons for seeking mentorship, whether for a specific project or career guidance. 3. Be genuine and professional in your approach. Also, be flexible by acknowledging their busy schedule. 4. Always follow up. This shows that you are committed to your own professional development.

Contacting a mentor: 1. Check if the person can be contacted and decide. 2. Be polite and connect over social media messages or emails. 3. Be very specific to your need and show maximum interest in connecting to be a mentee. 4. Explain the area of interest where you wanted a mentor and how this person can be helpful.

Communicating with mentor is very crucial - detail preparation is needed to get the maximum from mentor in the stipulated time. Prepare all the topics/questions you wanted to cover during the connect. Listen with utmost concentration and get feedback with which next connect/meetings can be planned. Questions can be: 1. Challenges faced by mentor 2. Achievements 3. Best practices followed 4. Advice

Exactly, in the era where you have more sources to connect, finding more mentors can widen your learning horizon. Sticking with one is ideal but these are times to go beyond because your environment is for fast paced. But ofcourse, don’t confuse mentors with idols, they are hard to find these days.

To approach a person to mentor you, i think the first step is to understand one's career path first and based on which one can find a person whom could one from your organisation or from a society working in your city or may be someone on LinkedIn having an accomplished the similar career as you aspire.

When approaching a mentor in quality assurance, express your genuine interest in learning and improving your skills. Clearly outline what you hope to gain from the mentorship and how it aligns with your career goals. Be respectful of their time and inquire about their availability for a discussion or guidance sessions.