Why I Advocate for Having a Mentor in Your Career

Having a mentor in your career is incredibly important. Over the past few years, I try to have least two mentors—one at work and one outside of work.

Mentors are there to guide you.

While they might not have all the answers, the value lies in what you can learn from their experiences:

1 . Learn from their journey: Since they’re usually at least 5 years ahead in their careers, I try to understand why they took the paths they did. What would they do differently if they could go back? Their perspective helps me make more informed decisions.

2 . Assessing career goals: Talking to someone more experienced helps me reflect on whether the career goals I’m chasing are worth pursuing in the long term or if I’m just spinning my wheels.

3 . Navigating challenges: Every career has its tough moments. Mentors teach you how to handle difficult situations and turn challenges into opportunities for growth.

4 . Staying on top of your game: From upskilling to time management, mentors offer great insights on how to balance personal development and work demands.

A few of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned from my mentors include:

“Become an expert in one thing. Give it your best, enjoy the attention, and then pick a new skill and be a student again.”

“Pick the top 3 things per quarter and focus solely on those.”

“Pick 1-2 things outside of work that challenge you. Give them 200% and don’t look back.”

“There will be bad days where you feel like the biggest loser. Remember to pamper yourself on those days. In your lowest moments, you can’t expect others to help you unless you help yourself first.”

“The cost of comfort is a low bank balance.”

How I choose mentors?

I have 3 point criteria:

1 . experience should be more than me.

2 . should have proven experience in the domain/skill I want to be or I am currently. eg: There is no point to talk to a product manager who never worked as an engineer.

3 . Open for mentoring

What not to expect from mentors?

1 . Hand holding: do not expect that your mentor will do hand hondling. They will guide you. It is you who has to act.

2 . Do not expect they will run the mentorship: You need to work on your mentorship plan. Think about what is your goal? What you are expecting from this mentorship. Eg: by end of 5 session what you should be achieving ? learning etc. Break the goal into small milestone and share it with your mentor.

3 . Do not expect for a magic: You need to understand they are human not a magicine. You can't expect them to use a magic to get you on your goal. There is no shortcut or magic. One needs to work on the tasks, and follow your mentor guidance.

Mentors have shaped my journey, and I’m thankful for the wisdom they’ve shared. If you don’t have one yet, I highly recommend seeking out people you admire and learning from their experiences!