A trilogy about being a mentee. Part II: How it’s going.

Last week I put some spotlight on the beginning of my mentee journey. Time is flying by so fast - my mentor Tjorven and I are already on this mentorship ride for one and a half months. So, how is it going? I think that it is going very well, and I do hope that Tjorven would say the same!

When I was signing up for the mentorship programme, I was asked what specific topics I’d like to work on. I mentioned improving my communication skills, working on achieving work-life balance and dealing with stress. Those were our starting points, but very soon we began to expand the matters we discussed, adjusting them to my current struggles and challenges. Lately, we talked a lot about career progression and how to live with imposter syndrome.

Tjorven, as a sales master and LinkedIn guru, is teaching me very practical lessons on building a?personal brand, as well as selling yourself as a recruiter and as a person to your potential clients or candidates. He’s emphasising the need of embracing your online presence and letting people get to know you. Of course, he is leading by example and is regularly sharing his experiences online. His posts and articles can be extremely inspiring! You can get a taste of it, by reading the article he wrote recently about a brave decision and an enormous change that he'll face real soon: Ik heb het nog nooit gedaan, dus ik denk wel dat ik het kan. (Yes, it’s in Dutch, but Google Translate will do the job ??) Inspired and encouraged by him, I decided to make my first attempts to build my online presence.

It’s quite difficult to mention everything that I’m gaining by participating in this programme. So far, I really enjoyed each of our meetings, exchanging experiences and learning about practical solutions. However, I think that the real power of mentoring lies simply in knowing that there is someone out there for you. Someone who listens and cheers for you and your success. For me, just having this in the back of my head is extremely empowering. It’s great knowing that I can count on the support of my mentor, it motivates me so much to go beyond and above in everything I’m doing!

At the first glance, it might all sound nice and easy… We meet, we discuss possible solutions to any problems I might be facing, on top of that, I have an opportunity to learn from this truly knowledgeable professional. Yet, in my personal experience - mentoring is not always easy. Your mentor might not have all the answers to your questions, they will guide you, but they will not do the job for you. It’s your responsibility as a mentee to put work and effort into this relationship and into self-improvement. Tjorven is here to remind me to set the bar high, but it’s my call to put his guidance into action. It often means doing something that is difficult or uncomfortable, it really is full of challenges. To be honest, I think that is a good thing and that mentoring should be challenging. You know, the magic happens outside your comfort zone and all that jazz ???

I will continue my mentee journey, eagerly waiting to see what’s next for me and in what ways will I have a chance to improve. I hope that you are also waiting to hear more about it. Stay tuned! ??