“Mentoring is a brain to pick, an ear to listen, and a push in the right direction.”

- John C. Crosby

A mentor can help shorten your learning curve, open your mind to new ideas and possibilities, identify opportunities and advise on how to promote yourself. If your mentor is a colleague or a member of your association, that person can provide invaluable insider information to help you achieve your goals.

A successful, sustainable mentoring program is beneficial to both the mentor and the mentee. According to our MentorCity data, the five most common reasons people want to start a mentoring relationship are:

1. Build their professional network.

2. Improve their public speaking abilities.

3. Better their communication skills.

4. Build their confidence.

5. Accelerate their career growth.

What are your reasons for wanting a mentoring relationship?

Everyone needs mentors at different times in their lives. Even the most successful, innovative and powerful people in the world will talk of the person who guided and encouraged them towards greatness.

• Steve Jobs (Apple CEO) mentored Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook CEO) in the early stages of the social media platform. When Jobs died in 2011, Zuckerberg wrote: “Steve, thank you for being a mentor and a friend. Thanks for showing that what you build can change the world. I will miss you.”

• Oprah Winfrey has often said that poet Maya Angelou guided her through some of the most important years of her life.

• Stephen Spielberg counts Jerry Lewis as a mentor, once saying “he taught me the importance of mentoring.”

• Musician Ray Charles mentored music industry legend Quincy Jones at the start of his career. Of the experience, Charles said: “You could tell that he wanted to learn, he wanted to know. And because I was able to show him some things, that made me happy, that’s what stirred my heart. I could help this kid.”

• Richard Branson (Virgin Group co-founder) turned to airline entrepreneur Sir Freddie Laker when he was trying to get Virgin Atlantic off the ground. He has been quoted as saying “It’s always good to have a helping hand at the start.”

Image Copyright: <a href='https://www.123rf.com/profile_drserg'>drserg / 123RF Stock Photo</a>

Your stomach is tied in knots and your palms are sweaty. The last thing you want to do is stand up in front of a crowd of people to give a presentation.

Public speaking is often ranked as one of the top fears; so feeling this way before a big speech is normal. But regardless of industry, perfecting the ability to command a room is an invaluable career skill.

Becoming a great public speaker is an art, not a science. And while it’s possible to teach yourself, it’s more effective to work with someone who already has the experience and expertise.

By working with a mentor, you not only have someone to practice with but also someone to guide and coach you through the entire process. A mentor will review your slide deck and provide feedback to strengthen your presentation. Before you know it, a mentoring experience will turn you into a confident public speaker.

Nearly every morning, I ask myself difficult questions to help me reflect on my experiences from the previous day. Every day, this helps me avoid making the same mistakes over again. We all learn from our experiences, here are the top lessons that I’ve learned.

1. You can change scenarios, to change your mind and to change directions. Something that made sense yesterday may no longer make sense today, and that's okay.

2. The past shapes your experiences and who you have become during your life journey so far. What's more exciting is where you are going — work on new projects, ideas, and challenges instead of redoing what you have already done.

3. Receiving feedback and ideas are like gifts and blessings in disguise. Feedback is the cornerstone to helping you evolve and continuously take your skills to the next level. Be grateful for feedback, ask for feedback and then carefully consider how you can integrate it into your life.

4. Establish daily rituals that will help you become more successful, productive, creative, focused and contribute to your growth. They will make your day.

5. Become friends with your self-doubt. The next time self-doubt creeps into your head, thank it for visiting and let it know that now isn't a good time. Then get back to doing whatever you are doing with confidence.

6. When you have developed a strength to a level that makes you happy; that's the moment you need to push yourself further. Seek a mentor who is stronger than you. Build rapport with this unique strength that you both share.

7. Good is good. But why stick with good when you are excellent. When you are excellent in everything that you do — when you give it your all — it's important for you to know this and to feel a great sense of inner pride.

8. The more times that you are rejected, and the more No's that you receive the closer you are to achieving success. If you aren't receiving a lot of No's than you aren't pushing hard enough.

9. A warrior doesn't give up; they are trained to win. A battle may be lost, but that doesn't stop them from heading into the next battle with every intention of winning.

10. Work hard for yourself, for all the special people in your life, and for those who are no longer with us.

Want to learn how to use your own experiences to take your skills and confidence to the next level? Register for our ‘From Here to There in 90 Days’ online course. 

Written by: Shawn Mintz, President, MentorCity

In this episode, we interview Shawn Mintz, the President of MentorCity. We discuss the importance of having a mentor and how they can make a difference to your job search.

Shawn shares his insights and experiences on how you can make the most out of your mentoring relationship.

http://zero2hired.libsyn.com/mentors-can-help-you-find-a-job-quicker

To celebrate the holiday season this year, we have made a donation to Canada 2067 (presented by Let's Talk Science) on behalf of all our valued customers. Canada 2067 is a national initiative to shape the future of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) learning for students across Canada. Using the perspectives and opinions of Canadians, Canada 2067 is developing an action plan and a national vision for STEM learning that will ensure young Canadians are prepared to compete, thrive and contribute in the rapidly changing world of tomorrow.

This exciting initiative will help generations of people acquire the knowledge they need to succeed, just as mentoring relationships enable people to achieve their aspirations by giving them the differentiating edge they need to accomplish their goals.

From our team to yours, we wish you a very happy holiday and a successful 2018.