Five Reasons Why IT Students Are Looking For Mentors in 2024

So you’re an IT student who’s looking to start your career? You follow all the latest IT trends, you’ve studied for years, and you’ve sunk more than a few hours into doing IT support for your friends and family?

If that’s you, then you might be wondering what do I need with an IT Mentor?

Today we’ll be exploring the ins and outs of professional IT work and why it is that more students are looking for help getting started with their careers. We’ll also be talking about what a Mentor can do for you specifically and how working with one could be a life changing decision.

1. IT is Always Changing

It’s no secret that technology is always advancing. As that technology advances, anyone working in IT is constantly forced to play catch-up with IT trends, learning on the job more often than not.

Furthermore, it’s not as though IT developments happen on one branch. We’ll talk more about this concept later, but for now, suffice it to say that no one person can stay up to date with every IT development. Instead, everyone from support staff to full-time developers has to know how to think on their feet and to learn quickly.

To some that might sound easy. To others it probably sounds like a nightmare. In practice, however, keeping up to date with new developments is a skill just like any other and the best way to learn a skill is with someone to teach you.

Working with a Mentor, they can show you how they expand their knowledge on a daily basis without letting the need for research overwhelm them. They’ll be able to show you how to manage unfamiliar tasks and how to work with your team, letting everyone’s strengths flow into the end result.

All of which brings us nicely to our second point.

2. A Mentor is More Than a Teacher

If you want to understand why it is that so many IT students feel they need an IT Mentor, then it’s important to understand the difference between a Mentor and a teacher.

A teacher is someone who can help you find the information you need and help you to learn it. A Mentor can do all of that but a Mentor is more. A Mentor is someone whose goal is to help you meet yours. That can be through teaching, but it can also be more practical.

A Mentor can help advise you on the best jobs for your current level. They can help you with your CV and even give you interview tactics. Most importantly, they’ll be the one showing you were to go in order to achieve the career of your dreams.

3. Higher Demand For IT Skills

One IT trend that’s only becoming more common is the diversification of IT skills. As more and more IT jobs open up, there’s an increasing demand for IT skills but that demand is stretched out over a wider range of topics. In fact, you might even suggest that IT has become too broad a term to be descriptive.

If you want a really high-earning IT role, then specialisation is the name of the game. If you want to be a really good specialist then you’ll need depth as well as breadth. Mentors are great for helping you achieve depth in their expert area because they’ve spent years perfecting the perfect methods and strategies. 

4. A Rise in Independent Workers

It’s also worth mentioning that, in 2024, it’s now easier than ever to simply forge your own career path through self-employment/freelancing. This is helping people to bridge the gap into IT without needing to pass as many requirements.

Of course, that’s still a lot of responsibility to take on single-handedly which is why Mentors can fill the role that a company would have. Instead of taking advice from your co-workers, you’ll be able to get the advice and assistance of a Mentor, teaching you on the job as you make your first steps into the world of freelance IT.

5. Quality Mentoring Is Easier to Find Than Ever Before

Last but certainly not least, it has to be said that it has never been easier to get help and advice straight from the horse’s mouth. Where, in years gone by, you might have been lucky to make connections, either through friends or family, who could give you pragmatic career advice, with Career Navig8r we take luck out of the equation.

With us, everyone has access to experienced professionals and their network, giving them both the knowledge and the opportunities they need.

Are you ready to take your IT skills to the next level? By signing up to Career Navig8r, you’ll have the chance to work with experienced IT professionals who’ve spent years in the field. They’ll be able to help you start your journey, introducing you to their network and teaching you the valuable skills you’ll need along the way.  Starting your IT career has never been easier!