Why you should look for a mentor

A photograph showing a mentor and a mentee

Source: © Royal Society of Chemistry

Manage your career proactively by seeking guidance from others

‘The delicate balance of mentoring someone is not creating them in your own image, but giving them the opportunity to create themselves.’ This Steven Spielberg quote sums up the essence of the mentor–mentee relationship.

‘A mentor isn’t there to tell a mentee what to do or how to do it,’ explains Laura Woodward, careers specialist at the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). ‘Instead they should ask the right questions to help their mentee think about what their choices are and how they’re going to make their decisions.’

Working with a mentor ‘is a really proactive way of managing your career’, Woodward adds. Many successful people attribute their success – at least partly – to a mentor.