When you’re in college, do not hesitate to reach out to career mentors who may be able to guide you through your career journey. Check some tips on how to choose the best mentor.

How to Find a Career Mentor While You’re Still a Student

When you’re a kid, you feel like adults are there for you to help and guide you when it comes to making difficult decisions. Your teachers in high school, your mom and dad at home, and coaches on the field.

When you enroll as a college student, you find yourself in a bunch of situations and face many new experiences that tend to leave you asking, “I need help…Is there anybody there for me?” The good news is that even in college or university, you have a great opportunity to find professional adults ready to help you.

College advisors or career mentors are the ones to develop a strong relationship with while you’re in college. This collaboration includes many potential advantages and unique opportunities.

Below, we have provided some of the recommendations on how to find a career mentor in college and how one can benefit from them

Figure out What You Want

When you approach online custom writing companies with your “I need someone to write your essay” request, you already know what you want. You have a list of instructions that show clearly, what the final product should be. The same rule applies to finding the right career mentor.

As the very first step, make sure to conduct some soul-searching. Before you choose a mentor, take some time to think about your strengths, narrative, and your career path. Reflect on where you are now and where you see yourself in the nearest future.

When you do so, you will be able to identify people you should approach to ensure the chosen person is aligned to your direction. In other words, do your best to co-work with the experts whose career journey is similar to the one you’d like to undertake.

Where to Go?

As a rule, the hardest part is to find a mentor who is the best candidate to work with. When it comes to college, you can use various resources to look for a mentor:

• Supervisors or coordinators from internships or jobs.
• Former or current college tutors.
• Alumni databases.
• career mentorship programs organized by your alma mater.
• On and off-campus professional organizations.

Consider joining a professional college fraternity to get connected with various mentors. As you learn from their experience, you get an opportunity to progress through your academic routine. Basically, they take may take you under their wings to help you survive both your academic pressure and career path.

The Qualities to Look for in a Career Mentor

There is a number of qualities that a professional career mentor should have. First of all, make sure the potential mentor is the person that you feel comfortable with. If you find yourself intimidated by their level of expertise or job title, you’re most likely to feel awkward communicating with them, let alone asking primitive questions to figure out your next steps in your professional life.

It is recommended to get in touch with several candidates in order to find out more about their values, personalities, character traits, level of expertise, and ways of dealing with college students.

Contact College Seniors 

A dedicated career mentor in college shouldn’t be someone twice or thrice your age. You have a great opportunity to learn from both college juniors and seniors. No matter how young they are, they still know how to help you hunt for the most suitable internships, craft your resume, and prepare for your first job interview. To get in touch with senior students, make sure to approach people in your sororities and fraternities, campus clubs, or college sports teams.

Consider Candidates You Already Know

The reality is that you meet most career mentors not informal programs but among people that you already know. Who knows, perhaps, you don’t have to search far to find the best candidate.

How about your family members and friends? Perhaps, you already know several people who have been there in your life for years and take leadership positions today. Are they the ones that you truly admire and get inspired by? Are there people in your life that you’d like to be as successful?

Consider your part-time job, professors, coaches, and other social connections. Come up with a list of all the people that you believe would become great mentors and write down some reasons why every candidate is the best option.

Don’t Force It

When it comes to looking for a career mentor, the process is quite similar to making friends. If you find yourself forcing it, you’re probably going to fail. If it’s not easy to find shared interests or start a friendly conversation, it may be best to stop trying and keep on searching for more candidates elsewhere. If you two fail to connect naturally, your cooperation is not going to work out fine. No matter how much you admire someone, s/he won’t become a good mentor if you don’t have similar experiences, career goals, and passions.

Finally, time is what truly matters when you’re on the lookout for a career mentor. If you have zero free time for your mentor or they can’t take the time out of their busy schedule, it might be best to look for some other candidate or plan a meeting when they have more free time. Some great mentors are all around you. All you have to do is to take your time to find one.