Learn how career mentoring can boost your professional life
If you feel stuck or want to take a new career path, career mentoring can help you align your goals and expectations for your work.
Accompanied by a mentoring specialist, you will receive guidance and assistance to develop the skills necessary for this new professional journey.
Below, learn how career mentoring programs can help you achieve what you want in your career and how to find the right mentor. Keep reading!
1. What is career mentoring?
Career mentoring is a professional support service that contributes to the development of essential work skills, both in technical knowledge and soft skills .
Some companies offer internship and trainee programs for those starting their careers, but they can also be offered by NGOs and other organizations specialized in this type of preparation.
Workers at any level of seniority and experience can take advantage of career mentoring, as advice and career plans are guided by their professional goals .
So, whether it’s to become an expert in your field, get a promotion or relocate your job, the career mentoring program can be very beneficial for you.
2. What are the benefits of career mentoring?
Designed for professionals of all ages and sectors, career mentoring is a worthwhile investment for those who want to improve their skills to become a more resilient employee and take off in their career. Discover some of the benefits the program provides:
1. Contributes to personal and professional development
The main advantage of career mentoring is that it contributes to personal and professional development. After all, only those who truly want to improve themselves and find ways to achieve their goals seek guidance from experts.
As programs are defined based on their objectives, the skills to be worked on can also vary for each professional.
You may be at a point where you need to develop emotional intelligence and conflict resolution, for example, which will directly impact your personal life as well.
In other cases, the search for mentorship is guided by the desire to become a leader. Therefore, it will be necessary to work to improve skills related to the position and become a reference for the team.
2. Build and expand your network of contacts
In this process, you can come into contact with other professionals, allowing you to network and expand your network of contacts. These new acquaintances will enable an enriching exchange of experiences, in addition to providing good job opportunities.
3. Boosts professional confidence
Career mentoring programs provide quality feedback and advice to help you better deal with your work routine, difficulties and areas for improvement.
Without a doubt, it is an excellent opportunity to develop confidence in your abilities as a professional, ensuring that you are on the right path to success.
4. Helps manage challenges
Facing challenges at work is very common, whether due to relationship issues with colleagues, difficulty in completing tasks or conflicts with clients, these situations can become an obstacle to the development of competent workers.
During career mentoring, you can exchange ideas and hear stories from other professionals about how they dealt with challenging situations at work and recovered . This way, by seeking solutions to your challenges, inspired by other people, you learn to be more resilient and resolve various conflicts.
5. Provides more appropriate career guidance
Mentoring is also an opportunity to recalculate your career path and find a direction that is more suited to your professional goals.
Contact with different people contributes to expanding your possibilities in the area, in addition to helping you find the resources you need to take a new direction in your career, with guidance from those who understand the subject.
3. How to choose a career mentor?
There are several ways to choose a career mentor who is best suited to your needs, whether through chatting with colleagues or online mentoring platforms. Check out some strategies to help you in this search:
- Seek referrals from colleagues: Talk to people at work, college, or in your community and ask for referrals to mentors and programs they may have participated in. There are NGOs, government programs, or private organizations focused on developing leaders, professionals of the future, among other approaches;
- Search for references: Use social media, such as LinkedIn, to find people who can serve as references. In some cases, prominent professionals may offer mentoring or even know professionals for this purpose;
- Get closer to professionals in your company: talk to coworkers who are experts in the field they work in or who have had an interesting journey at the company. See if you can ask for guidance that will help you develop even further within the company.
Asking for feedback and expectations plans from direct leaders, supervisors and managers is also a way to access a type of career mentoring.