6 Questions to Ask a Mentor

You’ve secured the first meeting with a prospective mentor, now what?

As I stated in my first mentoring article, finding and keeping mentors requires preparation.

Here are 6 types of questions to start off a new mentor-mentee relationship: 

1. I noticed you have accomplished XYZ, or held ABC roles, can you please share with me your career path? Did you always have a vision or goal that you’d be where you are today?
2. What did you do best to get to where you are today? What traits or skills did you hone, or practices did/do you execute?
3. In your view, what qualities or skills do the best leaders have? (or if you’re looking to make a move, ask about a specific role)
4. What was the most challenging time or transition in your career? How did you work through it?
5. What is your favorite and least favorite part of your current role? What’s next for you? (By asking about their current role you can assess whether it’s something you’d like to do in the future. By asking ‘what’s next’ you learn how they think ahead and set goals.)
6. How can I help you?

BONUS QUESTION (taking a page out of Madison Ramsey’s book….pun intended):

7. What's one book you recommend I read?

As the relationship grows you can get into more specifics for what’s most relevant to you at that point in time. Maybe you’re looking to make a job change, struggling with work/life balance, thinking about starting a family or going back to school, or looking to get a promotion in the next year. As you build the relationship, these questions will come more naturally and you’ll learn how best this individual can support you, and you them.

Well, clearly this article should’ve been titled ‘12 questions.’ Here’s one final and VERY important question:

Can we meet again next quarter?