Mentoring is something I've thought about in terms of getting mentored but the thought of it is a bit overwhelming.
I suffer from anxiety, am a very introverted person and really only want to interact with people who are positive, sensitive, understanding and nice people. I'm a huge mental health & self care advocate.
That is a very specific type of person and getting a mentor like that seems very much of a dream, not reality.
I wondered if anyone has ever been mentored or are currently mentoring anyone? What's the dynamic like? What do you think being a mentor/being a mentee is? I'd love to hear your thoughts
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Mentorship is not easy. I've mentored a number of developers/pms/testers over the years and I always start with the same question.
What do you want to get out of this?
I find it's the question that gets overlooked, people see you as a developer, but then don't know you want to lead a team, or be a data scientist, or whatever, so they miss out on helping you, and then it becomes super frustrating.
Currently, I'm mentoring one junior developer and two senior developers (the junior is to be a better dev, while the seniors are focused more on leadership and growth in the technical realm as it points to architecture et al).
A mentor shouldn't be dragging you through the mud but they are there to remind you (in a good way) where you need to keep your focus and what the relationship is all about.
Again, this goes back to that first question that is so important to answer.
Feel free to message me if you have other questions.
I think that's a great question to ask - a very important one and leaves any miscommunication out of the room.
For me, I personally want a mentor for two reasons - one reason to help me make sense of the tech world and give me a realistic viewpoint of what the tech industry can be like and what I should expect if I work for a company, point me in the direction of where I could go etc. And the second reason is, I want to be able to learn and ask questions and understand why certain things are done the way they are done, what the purpose is, what the bigger picture is. I want to be able to ask any question and not feel like A, I'm wasting their time and B, stupid cause some people can make you feel that way unintentionally.
All of this to me will help me understand the industry better and where exactly I fit in and how I want to fit in as its a completely new industry to me if that makes sense.
These are good reasons to have mentorship.
The big piece in what you are asking is are those questions related to technical growth and development or career growth and development.
Feel free to reach out (all my connections are there) if you have some more questions - LinkedIn or what not - cheers.
Thank you so much, I definitely plan too :) I really appreciate it
Hi F,
Asking about mentors is a great question.
Everyone I know talks about finding mentors. There is so much anxiety on this topic too. "I want to learn it all now, Hurry up, don't slow me down". Most people I know have some very strict learning criteria, too.
I am starting to view it in the same way that most people have/find "friends". In uni, I used to study with 3-6 people off and on. Some knew the subjects more than me and others not so much. But I learned from everyone at some point.
Finding a mentor is like finding a friend. The best friends are far and few, just like mentors.
Keep looking.
;^)
I think that's one of the reasons I've struggled with having a mentor because I also prefer interacting with positive, sensitive, understanding and nice people. Once had a mentor, I'd share my goals and she'd help me out with some of the things I struggled with, advice and introduced me to certain things and people. This was an awesome experience for me.