Do you remember the first time you consulted someone older and wiser for advice? I don’t either, but I think it must have been sometime in middle school when we had to pick electives to enroll in. Luckily, in those days I have adults whose specific job it was to help me navigate the scary waters of 8th grade life. I am so thankful for school counselors!
Since then, I’ve relied on advisers both formal and informal to help me navigate high school, college, post college job hunting, teaching, and now tech product management. Of course I’ve worked hard to get to where I am, but I would not be here without insight and time shared along the way. Because of that, it’s really important for me to give back when and where I can. Don’t worry! I still ask for plenty of advise as I go along as well, sometimes from the same people I give ideas to as well.
Which brings me to the purpose of this blog post. Even with all the resources the internet has brought us in the years since I was in 8th grade (raise your hand if you can hear the dial up noises in your head as I write this!) the one question I hear the most is “How can I find a mentor?” My answer usually is - they are all around you!
In this day and age, and perhaps specifically in the tech industry, employees don’t stay in their jobs for 30-40 years like in previous generations. This usually means good things for pay and skill increases, but one downside is that it leaves us less time to cultivate a dedicated mentor/mentee relationship with someone in our profession (though kudos if your company provides a formal program for this!) But this also means we have a wider range of resources and people to seek wisdom from. So I tell people - while it’s great if you have a dedicated 1:1 relationship with a personal career consultant, it’s easier to get targeted advice from multiple sources. For example, when I was looking to break into product management I consulted many people, including:
- Another PM that had reached the position from a customer support background like myself.
- The VP of PM at the company I was currently at.
- Engineering friends, to understand what they valued in a Product Partner
- Women professionals in my network, even if they didn’t work in tech they had valuable advice on how to promote myself when I was brought up to “not brag.”
The additional benefit of the various points of view was that sometimes the advice would be slightly different, and I felt confident taking the action that felt most natural to me so that I made sure I was authentic through the whole process.
Due to this distribution of mentor networks, I also often find that most of my relationships with those I get advice from are not strictly mentor/mentee. Often times, I’m able to provide advice about another topic to those who have helped me. I’m lucky to be a part of some wonderful Facebook and Slack groups for Women in Tech/Product where it’s easy to share (and receive) guidance. I would encourage you to seek out the same, and to seek out opportunities for you to share your wisdom no matter how early in your career you are!
What’s your point of view on mentoring? How do you find answers to your career questions, or how are you able to share your own thoughts and ideas? I’d love to hear in the comments!