SPONSORED BY:

Learned something new from last week’s mentorship article?

Here’s part 2 - the 4th and 5th mistakes 90% of people make with mentors.

As a recap, here are the first 3 mistakes people make:

1. Not setting clear goals or expectations

2. Not taking charge

3. Not sending summary notes to your mentor

A MESSAGE FROM ENTRYLEVEL

Learn tech skills in 6 weeks.

Beginner to tech? No problem. Get guidance for portfolio project and show it off to recruiters in 6 weeks. If you complete the challenge, you'll even get your money back.

Use code MENTORARTICLE10 to get 10% off - code expires in 7 days.

Interested in sponsoring Level Up? Learn more and apply here.

4. Not consistently updating your mentor

Mentorship is a relationship. Don’t ghost your mentor.

Not sure how to maintain the relationship? Try this:

• Set a calendar reminder to update your mentor about your progress every month or quarter

• Refer back to your mentorship notes every month, and follow up on any action items listed

• Share your projects with your mentor - and ask for a meeting so they can give you feedback on it

Your next steps

Set a calendar reminder to check in with your mentor every month or quarter.

5. Thinking your mentor must be an industry professional

Picture your ideal mentor.

Who did you think of?

It’s likely that you didn’t think of your peers.

But the power of peer mentorship shouldn’t be overlooked. It’s why joining a community is so important - you can learn a lot from people who are at a similar level as you.

You can also learn a lot from mentoring someone else, but many people won’t consider mentoring someone else themselves.

Your next steps

Join - or create - a community of like-minded tech professionals so you can learn together.

This can look like finding a group of friends who are also interested in tech careers, and setting a time every month to check in on each other’s progress. You can also share ideas and learning experiences in a group chat together.

Summary of mentorship mistakes

1. Not setting clear goals or expectations

2. Not taking charge

3. Not sending summary notes to your mentor

4. Not consistently updating your mentor

5. Thinking your mentor must be an industry professional

Your to-do list

1. Create a list of 5 SMART goals for mentorship

2. Create an agenda and list of questions based on your goals for mentorship

3. Draft a notes document based on your agenda

4. Set a calendar reminder to check in with your mentor every month or quarter

5. Join - or create - a community of like-minded tech professionals so you can learn together

Psst: save this image to share your progress on social media. Tag us at EntryLevel to be featured!