Resources for Mentees

This page is dedicated to providing mentees with helpful resources to seek, find and conduct a successful mentoring engagement. Half of the mentoring success depends on mentees actively owning the progression and outcomes of their sessions. Browse our resources under “Useful Reads” below, and and feel free to suggest others you may find on your own.

Becoming a Mentee

  1. Think about what you are trying to accomplish and work with your manager and others to identify a likely mentor.
  2. Once you have selected a candidate, email them directly, introduce yourself and what you hope to accomplish, and request a mentor pairing. Helpful tips for selecting a mentor.
  3. Take some time to read through “Elements of a good mentee“. Think about what you want to gain and how you intend to set your mind towards your goals. It’s OK not to have definite goals right at the beginning. But spending time thinking about why you want a particular mentor in a particular area will help you set intentions for the duration of your engagement.
  4. Interesting course on Lynda.com. Check it out for insights into mentoring, selecting mentors, asking questions, learning about yourself. It’s a little new-age-y, but there’s some good stuff there.

How to get started with your mentor

One of the first things you should do with your mentor, is establish ground rules and explore goals. To that end, review and prepare to discuss Mentoring Rights and Responsibilities.

For the first meeting, it can be useful to think about and discuss expectations, your interests and begin looking at translating interests into goals you can actively pursue.

Useful reads

Handing difficult conversations

Things to cover during orientation mentoring

Great questions to ask your mentor

Getting the most from your mentor

Get the most out of mentoring

The benefits of a mentor

Guidelines for good goal setting

SMART goals

More SMART goals!