Why become a mentee?

People have many different reasons for choosing to take part in a mentoring partnership. It’s important to be clear about why you want to become a mentee to ensure that your expectations about the resulting partnership are realistic. For example, taking part in a three month mentoring partnership with minimal contact with a mentor, is unlikely to achieve the same types of results as one year, in-depth partnership. Neither of these are right or wrong, they just provide different outcomes based on the needs of the mentee. The reasons for becoming a mentee might include:

• A general will to learn more and be better at what you do;
• A lack of confidence at work effecting your performance and enjoyment;
• Noticing that your skills don’t support you in your current job;
• Feeling that others have more knowledge / skills / experience in a specific subject area than you and that this is effecting your career development;
• A wish to progress within your career;
• You want to develop a bigger network;
• You want to understand specific areas of work that are different from your own.

Whatever your motivation, and it’s likely to be a mix of different things, you should also ensure that you are the catalyst! Professional development is in addition to your day job and as a support to you in achieving different aspirations in your career. As a result, you need to be the driving force behind the partnership. This way, you are far more likely to be engaged in the resulting activities, and far more likely to achieve your objectives.