Five Traits to Identify Mentors in Your Organization
Posted October 25th, 2010
Whatever your professional field, having a mentor is always a good practice to follow. Mentors can offer invaluable advice on achieving your career goals, avoiding pitfalls, and handling office politics.
But how do you identify a person who would be a good mentor? Here are five characteristics that a good mentor has:
1) This first one may seem pretty obvious, but it should not be overlooked – a mentor should have a good deal of experience in the area or specialty in which you work. For example, if you work as a project manager accountant, you would want a mentor that is
2) A mentor also should be readily available, someone who works in the same region you do or in the same organization you do. If he works where you do, he would be better able to help you with problems that are specific to your area. Different states, for example, have different legal, political, and governmental regulations that your mentor would know about.
3) A mentor should be someone who is enough like you so that you can get along with him but different enough to be able to offer insight in areas in which you may be weak. A mentor who is your complete opposite would probably be someone you would have a great deal of difficulty relating to. But if your mentor is just like you – with the same strengths and weaknesses — it is unlikely that you would be able to learn very much from him.
4) A mentor should be someone who is not only willing but excited to share ideas and experiences with you, someone who has a bit of the teacher in him. He should take a personal interest in his relationship with you and gives you constructive advice and feedback.
5. A mentor should be someone who is respected in your field. He shows real enthusiasm about the work. He sees the importance of continual growth and learning. He sets goals and challenges for himself as well as you to meet. He is in this way a good role model.
You don’t have to have any formal arrangement in your relationship with a mentor. There are no papers to sign. There is just the acknowledgement that this is a respected, experienced person who is there to help you out, to help you network, to help you navigate the bureaucracy, and to teach you the things you didn’t learn in school.
Find your next mentor at your next job by connecting with BaySide Solutions. We can help place you in temporary, temp-to-hire and direct placement positions with some of San Francisco’s finest companies. Contact us today.
