How can you find career mentors? By being a great mentee!
One of the things I have enjoyed most over the past 25 years is having interns work each semester at a Wisnik Career Enterprises, Inc. Hiring students and watching them grow is extremely fulfilling.
I was recently in Nashville and had a chance to see @Samuel Kim, who is now a 3L at Vanderbilt and was a Wisnik Intern for close to two years while a student at Fordham.
Sam has been an exceptional mentee. He reaches out regularly to apprise me of his career progress and seeks out advice as he navigates his career journey. I feel very committed to his success and would drop anything to make myself available to Sam.
I dedicate an entire chapter of Your Fairy Job Mentor’s Secrets for Success to “How to Find a Mentor.” My biggest piece of advice is to be a great mentee.
What does this look like?
It means staying in touch with those who have helped you even when you don’t need anything, not just when you need advice navigating a big career decision.
This month is a great time to reach out to mentors, formal and informal, who helped you get to where you are today. For example, who served as a reference for your current job or wrote your letter of recommendation for grad school? A holiday note or even better a call would demonstrate how much you value this relationship. If you want to take an extra step to show gratitude for this mentor’s contribution to your success, I recommend writing them a LinkedIn recommendation.
Whether you’ve been working for many years or are a recent grad, practicing being a great mentee will net you mentors who will be there to support your success for many years to come!
PS: Wisnik Career Enterprises is hiring two more interns for the winter semester. One will learn all about legal recruiting and the other one will work closely with Eva on PR and Social Media campaigns for YourFairyJobMentor.com. If know have student in your life who’s based in NYC and excited to learn and contribute have them reach out to me or Shannan Buckley at shannan@wisnik.com.
