How Mentor Networks Can Elevate Your Career

When most people think of mentoring, they think of the skills and experience a Mentor can provide and while that’s a huge part of what a Mentor is, it’s not the whole picture. Today, we’d like to explore how Mentor networks can help you to elevate your career, meeting new people and learning more about the wider industry you’re working in.

Mentorship for Personal and Professional Growth

Building Mentor networks is about more than just finding excellent job opportunities – though that is a part of it. Here at Career Navig8r, working with a Mentor is focused around a specific job role. That’s excellent because it allows Mentor’s to speak from direct experience about their role and responsibilities. That being said, there is still a place for learning about the wider industry and this is where a Mentor’s network comes in.

By meeting and interacting with a Mentor’s network, Mentees will gain a better understanding of the industry outside of the role they’re being mentored for as well as how their role fits into the wider puzzle. It also provides the opportunity to make professional – and potentially even personal – friendships. These can be incredibly valuable, allowing people to share their passion with other people working in the same field.

Navigating Career Challenges

Mentoring doesn’t stop the day you find your dream job – at least it doesn’t have to. While it might be the role you’ve dreamed of for years, getting the job is very much a new beginning and you’ll have all kinds of new challenges to face along the way.

As someone experienced in your job role, your Mentor will naturally be able to help you through many of the professional challenges you might face, but having a wider network can be just as useful. Not only can a Mentor network provide new perspectives on a problem, but they can also help to put the right people in touch with one another.

Say you’re a Mentee working for the marketing department of a small online retailer. The retailer sells custom yarns and fabrics but, despite doing everything you’ve learned, you’re having a difficult time getting word out about the product within that space. Your Mentor is an expert in marketing but they don’t know much about the arts and crafts niche.

But what if they had a friend who did? What if that Mentor was able to put you in touch with a former colleague who was now working in a similar space?

Of course, this is just one example, but, applying the same logic to other scenarios, it’s easy to see how a Mentor’s broad network, built up over their years spent working in a field can really come in handy to a Mentee just starting out at their new job.

Strategic Networking

It’s also well worth noting that networking is a skill just like any other and one that’s worth learning as soon as possible. In just about any career, sooner or later it’s important to start building up connections and by introducing Mentees to their network, a Mentor can help them to practise that skill.

Skill Development and Knowledge Transfer

As mentioned previously, meeting a Mentor’s network can give a Mentee a far broader perspective on the industry they’re working in. On top of that, it can also show how the skills they’re building could potentially transfer into other future roles, should they choose to move on.

While the role of a Mentor is very focused on a single job, any job helps to develop soft skills and soft skills are highly transferable. By seeing how others working different roles in the same field can apply those similar skills, a Mentee can gain broader insight and appreciation both for their own work and for that of their peers and colleagues.

Shaping Diverse and Inclusive Environments

Mentor networks are excellent for broadening your horizons. A Mentor will bring one perspective about a job role – a detailed and experienced one with lots of useful information, but only one perspective nonetheless. Speaking with other people in their network can teach you a lot about the culture of a job as well as the different approaches people might take.

After all, no two employees are ever exactly the same, even if they’re working in the same job role, and there’s always something new to learn. Working with a Mentor network can help Mentees to really understand the value of a diverse and inclusive workplace where new ideas and outside-the-box thinking are valued.

Are you experienced in your chosen job role? Do you have a broad network of contacts, colleagues, and friends within your field? If so then you’d make for an excellent Mentor. Sign up now at CareerNavig8r.com and discover how you could earn money by sharing your years of skills and experience.