Graduating from university is extremely exciting. It represents a significant transition in your life and a key moment as you pursue your short-term and long-term career goals. Whether you are graduating amidst an economic boom or are graduating during severe economic turmoil, the importance of mentoring youth is more relevant today than ever and the opportunity is at your fingertips.
That being said, going out into the world and grasping that opportunity can be more difficult than you expect. Careers take time to develop. Mistakes and setbacks are inevitable. Yet one way to minimize your mistakes is to work with a graduate mentor. Working with a graduate mentor, you can supercharge your career and develop an outstanding friendship at the same time.
The Benefits of Graduate Mentoring
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Graduate mentoring can provide an immense amount of value to your early career and there is strong evidence to suggest that mentoring is important in leadership. While the benefits are numerous, some of the most important include the following:
- Learning From Your Mentor’s Successes and Mistakes: This is one of the most valuable benefits - especially if your mentor works in the field or position that you are pursuing. Having a mentor who has already achieved what you want to achieve can give you a lasting competitive advantage. You’ll be able to avoid common mistakes that your mentor may (or may not) have made and double down on best practices to achieve your career goals.
- Understand the Nuances of Your Industry: Beyond successes and mistakes, a graduate mentorship can help you learn the specifics and nuances of your chosen industry. Sitting down with your graduate mentor, you can ask those “simple” or “basic” questions that you may be embarrassed to ask in your job. He or she can provide important information or details that you can’t find on Google.
- Contemplate Difficult Decisions: Your graduate mentor can be a huge help when you are at a career crossroads. He or she can provide a fresh perspective and guide you as you advance down your career path.
- Accessing the Mentor’s Network: Finally, a great graduate mentor may help you expand your network. There is no guarantee of this. That being said, if you develop a close relationship with your graduate mentor, you may meet even more interesting people that can help advance your career.
Finding a Graduate Mentor
As you can see, there are plenty of ways that a graduate mentor can provide value to your professional life. At this point, however, you may be wondering how you can find an outstanding graduate mentorship. There are several strategies that you can try.
- Use Graduate Mentor: Get free one-to-one career mentoring for university graduates and learn from inspiring business leaders, senior graduate recruiters, University careers staff, professional coaches, alumni and industry experts to launch your career. Check it out now: Graduate Mentor
- Canvas Your Network: You may already have an outstanding mentor within your network. This mentor may or may not be in the sector or position that you are seeking. Even if he or she is not, they may be able to provide some fascinating and helpful advice that can help you reach your career goals.
- Leverage Second-Degree Connections: Second-degree connections are individuals who are connected with one of your connections. They may be some of the most interesting potential graduate mentors. LinkedIn offers you an outstanding way to identify second-degree connections in your targeted sector or industry. You can even find second-degree connections that work at specific companies or organizations.
- Cold Call or Email: Finally, you can find a great graduate mentorship through cold calling or cold emailing. Admittedly, this is a much more difficult way of finding a graduate mentor compared to canvassing your current network. Having said this, it has the potential to be a great way to find an outstanding mentor. When reaching out via cold email or cold call, try to leverage anything that you and your target have in common. Be authentic and show your passion for working with your potential mentor. While there is no guarantee, taking these steps increase your chances of finding a great graduate mentor.
Get Started Today
A graduate mentor can offer you insights, advice, and guidance as you proceed on your career journey. Whether you have high career goals or are simply looking to find a great job immediately after graduation, a graduate mentor can help you get the job done. We highly recommend that you get started today to find that perfect graduate mentorship for you.
