In today’s flexible work environment, having a mentor to help guide you into your career and industry space can be easier than ever. It’s absolutely a good idea as well since 90% of workers who have their own mentor indicate that they are happy – or happier – doing their job. This cuts down on company turnover, gives mentees continuing education that can help them create more opportunities in their work, and can help a mentor find new perspectives on which to build their own career.
What is a Mentor?
A mentor is often someone in your field who has experience under their belt and a proven track record that could benefit your career. Mentors can also be people you identify with–belonging to your gender, your race, your community, your background or otherwise–that have the perspective to help coach you through certain situations or answer questions. Seeking out mentorship should be a priority if you plan on climbing the ranks in your career, or want to pivot with your goals.
What are the Benefits of a Remote Mentorship?
Mentors are a special breed. They recognize the benefit of understanding how they got to where they are in their careers and appreciate where they have been.
You Have Access to More Talent
There is almost no limit to where you can find a mentor these days. As is the case with everything else, the digital world has allowed us more access to more people in more places than ever before.
Sure, you may have an inspiring coworker or someone within your circle that can be enlisted as a mentor figure to help you grow within your career. But there are also people just outside your circle who can help you. People in your friends’ networks, people who live in other cities and countries.
Whether you have noticed similarities between your goals and those of a big fish in a little pond or a little fish in a big pond, there is almost always a way to reach out for advice and information. If you notice someone’s talent and value their perspective, you can reach out and start a conversation! The worst that can happen is that they are too busy to personally respond, and there are plenty of other options out there.
Remote Mentors Have Flexible Availability
Whether assigned through a lucrative mentorship program or approached singularly, they understand the need for connection and make themselves more readily available than those who work strictly in person. Even if a mentor only makes themselves available during normal working hours, the lack of commute involved removes a physical obstacle that can often make scheduling mentorship opportunities an absolute mess.
Mentors certainly should not be viewed as an “on-call” service. Knowing your mentor’s preferred communication methods and the boundaries by which they approach their work and mentorships can allow you both to be available to one another when necessary. Whenever you ask someone to meet, be sure to prepare and consider the questions you’d like to ask your mentor to make the most of their time.
Remote Mentors Can Help You Through a Situation in Real-Time
Feeling uninspired? Mess something up on your project? Do something embarrassing in front of a client? Sometimes, what should otherwise be considered a blip on your radar can really cause a meltdown in the moment. Get ahead of your emotions toward workplace obstacles by arranging a meetup with your mentor.
Having a previously established mentor relationship can help calm you in the middle of the storm. Knowing you have someone to help you on the other side of things – even if it’s later when your schedules align – can help ease tension and help you make it through the day.
How To Find a Remote Mentor
Working remotely or following a hybrid model can make a person feel a bit removed from the world around them. How are you to identify someone that you can have a mutually beneficial mentor/mentee relationship with if you don’t know their quirks? Are you even sure that you have all of the necessary information to handle a big decision like this?
Find Out If Your Employer Offers Mentorships
You may work for a company that provides structured mentorships. Your company may be a subsidiary of – or have an affiliate marketing agreement with – a brand that offers mentoring opportunities. Step one could simply be asking your supervisor if they have any resources to provide.
Engage With Niche Industries
Niche industries are also a great place to start, as innovation is highly valued. If you are interested in working in an industry that is largely unionized, look up information on existing mentorship outlets. Because the creative arts often get the shaft when it comes to public funding, you should be able to find several different organized options for mentorships.
Young industries are also typically a little easier to navigate when seeking advice. For example, cannabis equity programs have launched mentorship programs across the United States over the last few years – including Illinois Women in Cannabis (IWC) and Seth Rogen’s Houseplant – with the intention to diversify this growing industry.
Access Mentors Through Conventions
Conventions have expanded to help facilitate brief mentorship opportunities. Take SXSW, for example. The music portion brings successful industry professionals to the Austin Convention Center that week to speak specifically with other attendees and to give them advice on their work. These relationships often last far longer than that week in March and help attendees build connections and get their work seen. The pandemic led the convention to roll out digital mentorship opportunities as well, as an accompanying chat system within the app to reach out to professionals you may not otherwise come in contact with.
Other conventions that provide lucrative mentoring opportunities include The Society for Personality and Social Psychology Convention, Federal Aviation Administration Managers Association Convention, and the American Psychological Association Convention.
A convention you are attending may not have formal mentorship opportunities quite yet. Take full advantage of any access given to attendees and speakers via the convention app, website, or Facebook groups.
Look For Mentors on Social Media
Have you ever gone to a website to check out the leadership at a company you adore? Have you researched the masthead at a publication you are hoping to write for or to pitch a client to? Social media can really be an untapped bevy of information, and truly help you understand a potential mentor before ever having reached out.
Find out if a notable person in your industry is active on Instagram or Facebook. Do a little research on what they like, what they post about, and how they operate their business. You may have really loved an article about a tech guru, but do they have a personality you could jive with? And – perhaps more importantly than anything else – is there something you can bring to the table if and when you choose to reach out to them?
**It can be difficult to remember that mentorship is a mutually beneficial relationship. Unless you are part of a structured program with specific requirements, make sure to approach someone you admire with the intention of helping them as well.
Reddit is a great place to find a topic and industry experts before diving into their Linkedin profile or reaching out via email. You can also fairly assume that they have at least a little bit of free time to take on mentees if they are spending time on a non-monetizing platform geeking out over their work or interests. (But maybe don’t address this when speaking with them.)
In the same vein, you could seek out your next mentor on career sites and job boards. Making a connection on Linkedin and ask them if they have space to chat about their career journey can be a fun pop of optimism in a career person’s day. Even if they don’t have time, they may have another resource for you. The adoration will be encouraging for them either way.
