How to Find or Become a Mentor in Your Engineering Career – EYOS Part 3 of 7 – Ep 045

In this session of The Engineering Career Coach Podcast, I am going to give you strategies for finding the right mentor in your engineering career and/or becoming one.

This episode is the third of a seven-part Engineer Your Own Success series podcast where I am detailing the 7 key elements from my book Engineer Your Own Success – 7 Key Elements to Creating Extraordinary Engineering Career – updated and expanded edition published by IEEE-Wiley Press.

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

In the Take Action Today segment of this episode I will give you one piece of advice that you can implement immediately to put you on the path of finding the right mentor.

I define a mentor as a person who helps develop your professional life by assisting you in defining, pursuing, and achieving your goals and ultimately creating a successful and enjoyable engineering career. However, you MUST know your definition of success so that your mentor can help you achieve it.

Listen to this session and learn How to Find or Become a Mentor in Your Engineering Career:

Four steps to finding the right mentor for you and maximizing your mentoring relationships.  You should…

1. Be absolutely clear on your goals.
2. Look for a mentor.
3. Select the mentor. Here are 4 tips for selecting the mentor:
   1. Make sure the mentor you select have similar goals or has achieved goals similar to yours.
   2. Ensure that the person you select is in you specific discipline, or as close to it as you can find.
   3. Think intently about your selection and try not to just select your supervisor.
   4. Don’t settle for less than your ideal mentor. Find the best possible mentor you can find.
4. Get the most out of the mentoring relationship. Here are 4 key things to understand about the mentoring relationship to help maximize it:
   1. The Mentoring relationship is like a computer program in that what you put determines what you get out.
   2. Guidelines and expectations for the relationship should be established early on so that you can measure your success.
   3. Consistent meetings with your mentor an important key to success.
   4. Goals should be established early on in the relationship to create accountability.

I detail the following 5 steps to becoming a great mentor in this episode:

1. Volunteer as a mentor through your company or association.
2. Select a protégé and make sure that he or she is the right match.
3. Discuss confidentiality with your protégé early on in the relationship.
4. Meet consistently with your protégé.
5. Do not tell your protégé exactly what to do.

Becoming a mentor, will help you to build your confidence, become a better communicator and also a great leader. So regardless of what experience level you are at in your engineering career, you should become one.

Resources and links mentioned in this session include:

Goals – EYOS Part 1 of 7
Credentials – EYOS Part 2 of 7
Free Webinars
Engineer Your Goals Course
Engineer Your Own Success – Updated and Expanded Edition
Contact Purdue’s Master of Engineering Management Program
ASCE Mentoring Program

Click Here for Session #45 Transcription

Have you found a career mentor today or better yet, are you one?

I would love to hear any questions you might have or stories you might share on how mentoring has helped you in your engineering career.

Please leave your comments or questions in the section below.