Career Booster Mentoring

The professional world is like running sushi - you must stay alert and watch what's coming next, otherwise you might miss out on something great!

The professional world is fast-moving, complex, and constantly changing. It's excellent that career opportunities are so diverse, but it also makes it a little harder to clearly define or successfully pursue your own career goals and interests. This is where the superpower of mentoring comes into play. A mentor can be a valuable career booster and help you gain momentum toward your professional goals.

You're thinking - wait, what is mentoring again?

Mentoring is a relationship and learning process in which an experienced person (the mentor) shares their knowledge, experience, and insights to help a less experienced person (the mentee) in their professional development. Mentoring can occur in formal structures such as companies or educational institutions but can also be established informally between individuals as long as the focus is on growth, learning, and career development.

How can mentoring serve as a career booster?

1. Reflection and self-awareness: A mentor can help you recognize your strengths, weaknesses, values, and passions. For you, this means that you can set more precise and realistic goals that match your skills inventory and are really important to you.

2. Knowledge transfer: A mentor shares her expertise, insights, and methods with you, which she has gathered during her career. What this means for you: You benefit immensely from her experience (successes and failures), possibly avoid mistakes, and learn faster (certainly more painlessly). More importantly, however, the advice and experience will reduce unnecessary setbacks, as you will be able to better assess potential risks thanks to your mentor's experience

3. Career advice: A mentor can support you in developing a clear professional vision and strategy or help you with long-term career planning. What this means for you is that you are building your career on experience and not just your own assumptions. (To be sure, your assumptions are also important to consider).

4. Network building: A mentor often has extensive contacts in the industry or her field of expertise. You could work on your career goals with the right connections and steer your efforts in the right direction. What this means for you is that she becomes a door opener, and you should be really well prepared to make the most of the moment of introduction.

5. Visibility: By having a relationship with an established mentor, you can gain visibility in your industry. This means that you may be considered for exciting projects, promotions, and career opportunities simply because she throws your name into the ring.

6. Feedback: A mentor offers constructive feedback on your ideas and plans that are important to you in order to continuously improve. You can stay on track faster and work on yourself to meet the demands of your career goals. Feedback and further development: For you, this means that you refine your approaches, and the product of your work gets an upgrade.

7.Inspiration and motivation: A mentor can inspire you through her success stories and personal challenges, possibly increasing your motivation. If she can do it, then you can, too. Meaning for you: Even in difficult times, stay focused on the ball and dribble (yes, as I write this, I’m at my daughter's football pitch).

Seven good reasons to get a mentor and take advantage of this valuable support. Mentoring can be an incredibly enriching experience that catapults you into orbit like a super-powered rocket to achieve your professional goals.