Mentorship Guidance

Finding a Mentorship Opportunity for You

How To Find Your Dream Mentorship

 

I’m sure you’ve heard it before: a mentor is the most valuable relationship you’ll ever have in your career. But where do you find one? And how do you make sure that relationship is meaningful? Finding a mentor can also be an intimidating process, but it doesn’t have to be. There are a few different ways you can go about finding your dream mentor, and by following these steps, you’ll be able to find the right mentor for you in no time!

 

Consider why you want a mentor

You’ll need to know what kind of qualities you’d like in your mentor before you start looking for them. Do you want someone who’s more experienced with tech? Or do you want someone who is more experienced with personal development? This can help narrow down your search when it comes time to find your mentor. Do you want someone who can give you advice on how to navigate politics at work? Or do you want someone who will help guide your career development from start to finish? It’s important to know what type of mentorship is best suited for your needs, so that when you’re looking for one, you can find someone who fits the bill.

 

Find a mentor through your network

This may seem obvious, but don’t forget about the people around you who inspire and motivate you, they might also be great mentors for you! Ask around at work or school—or even just here in the GTA Black Women In Tech network—and see if anyone comes up that seems like they’d be willing to take on the role of mentorship for another person. You may be surprised at how many people are willing to help out when they see how passionate someone else is about something.

 

Find a mentor through a scheme or organisation

Groups like these can connect professionals with opportunities to learn from each other and grow their careers as well

Start your relationship with your mentor on the right foot.

Make sure that you have a clear idea of what you want from them and what they can offer you. If you don’t know where to start, ask yourself: What do I need? What are my goals? What do I want out of this relationship?

 

Keep the relationship going

Once you’ve found someone who seems like a good fit for the role of your mentor, make sure that they understand what it means to be a mentor and set clear expectations for both parties. Remember that this isn’t something that happens overnight—it’s an ongoing process where both parties are constantly learning from each other and growing together over time.

 

Know when it has ended

There comes a point when every mentorship ends; it’s just as important to know when that time is as it is to know how to find a good one in the first place! But how do you know when it has ended? Here are some signs to look for:

-Your mentor has stopped giving you advice and guidance.

-You feel like you’re not learning new things from them.

-They don’t seem interested in what’s going on in your life anymore.

-You find yourself more interested in their opinion than they are in yours.

Recommended Mentorship Programs  

You’ve done your research, read our steps and now you’re ready to find an organisation that can complete your mentorship program.

We know it can be a bit overwhelming, so we’ve put together a list of some of our favourite organisations that we recommend you look into:

 

Women Tech Career Mentoring Program

If you want to boost your career, get promoted and help to increase minority representation at management level this mentorship program is perfect for you.

The program is free of charge and is available to all Women Tech community members.

Applications are open till the end of June 2022 and the mentoring begins in July 2022. To discover more about this program click here.

Wentors

Wentors are a global network of women in technology that support one another. They provide a free mentorship program for women in technology worldwide. They’ve developed a varied and lively community of 2300+ women in technology across four continents, so they’re certain that should you choose to join us, you’ll find that you’re in the right place and in good hands. To discover more about Wentors click here.

Black Girls In Tech

The Black Girls In Tech Mentoring Program is intended to associate black women at all phases of their journey with a mentor, offering encouragement and direction, to help mentees understand their untapped capacity and accomplish individual and expert objectives. Overall, their goal is to support them in manoeuvring within their field.

Mentees will be matched with mentors dependent on various factors including, area, industry, and skills these will be discovered during the process of enrolment. To discover more about this role click here.

Black Tech Mentorship Programme

The Black Tech Mentorship Programme is a mentor mentee program that inspires, educates, and brings underserved Black communities into technology.

Their mission is to Build a career pipeline of talent that’s prepared for the evolution of industry 4.0 and emerging technologies. They also aim to create environments where new entrepreneurs are inspired to contribute their complete working selves and are guided well. Discover more about this programme here.