5 Tips for mentees to get the most out of the mentorship

You have decided to embark on a path and realize that you need some guidance. That’s great! Like a torch enlightening the dark, a mentor is there to guide you on your journey. How can you make the most out of your menteeship? Read further to get some tips.

1. Respect & appreciate!

Your mentor is volunteering time to help you. You should first let this sink in. Never forget that mentors have no obligation to mentoring. So treat them with respect and appreciate their efforts to help you. You’re in this together and with all relationships, it is important to respect and communicate well.

2. Begin with the end in mind

Do you know what you want to get out of the mentorship? If not, do so before the mentorship starts. Define and set up your goals as Objective and Key Results (OKR), so you have clear targets that you work towards and you can evaluate your progress. You can create a shared document on Notion, Google Drive or any other tool of your liking. This way, both you and your mentor can keep track of your development.

3. Be proactive

As a mentee, you have to be proactive. You have to define your OKR’s, so the mentor knows what you want to achieve. You should also initiate the meetings with your mentor. Remember that your mentor is a busy person with other responsibilities as well. To be sure that your meeting will not be forgotten, plan it in advance and send an invite so it will show up on your mentor’s schedule. If it’s possible, try to meet up on the same day and time. This will create a habit for you and the mentor for the upcoming months. When you have the meetings, it’s also important that you have already defined the agenda points. You don’t want to waste both of your time, right?

4. Figure out what your mentor can help you with

Some mentors like to focus or have knowledge on specific topics. We’re all human, and your mentor is no different. Mentors cannot do everything. Get to know your mentor better and know the limits. Let’s say that you’re interested in Voice User Interface Design and your mentor doesn’t know much about it. You can still ask. There are chances that your mentor can recommend resources or other people to talk to.

5. Be open to learning and developing yourself

A mentorship is not a lonely journey. You’re accompanied by an experienced person from whom you get to learn a lot! Along the way, you also get to know more about yourself, your drive, and your working style. Don’t shy away from asking for feedback, as this encourages you to develop yourself.

This article is written to support participants of the mentorship program organized by Ladies That UX Amsterdam. You can find more information about us and the program here