Finding The Right Mentor For You

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Finding a mentor can be difficult. Sometimes these people that we look up to and help guide us to success are unexpected and not who we imagined, or maybe you just haven't found the right person yet. Here are some tips for finding the right mentor for you.

1. Ask yourself what you want in a mentor or sponsor. Is it an expert who can help with a specific business challenge—asking for a raise, say, or ways to spiff up your image with the proper dress for success attire? Do you want someone inside your workplace who has the inside track to be an advocate for your project or promotion, or someone who can act as a more general sounding board and big-picture guide?

2.Check your employer’s human resources department to see if they have a mentoring program. Many big corporations– General Mills, Intel, Ernst & Young, Proctor & Gamble, American Express, Cisco, Citi, Deloitte, Intel, Morgan Stanley and Time Warner offer sponsorship and mentoring programs. Entrepreneurs might tap into industry associations or SCORE.org, a nonprofit association and resource partner with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

3.Look outside the office. Mentoring doesn’t have to be a “business” relationship. You can find mentors outside the workplace from associations you belong to, activities you’re involved in, neighbors, and relatives.

4. Do an Advanced People Search on LinkedIn. You might search for someone from your alma mater. College ties do bind. You type in a title and your university, for example, current vice presidents of marketing and attended Duke University. You can focus the search on your zip code or town, so you can connect with someone nearby.

5 Consider a mentor younger than you. 50-plus workers might want to tap someone who may be junior in age, but can offer more experience and guidance when it comes to new fields and areas like technology where they might not be quite as fluent.

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