Having a mentor can help you accelerate your studies, career, and other areas of your life. According to a study of 8,000 participants, 91% of respondents said they were happier overall when they had a mentor. From accelerating your career to understanding how to deal with life’s challenges, a mentor can help you in many areas.
To get the most out of a mentor, you need to know what questions to ask them. Depending on your needs, whether it’s education or career advancement, understanding their experience is invaluable. Are you looking to increase your Instagram presence? Looking for advice on how to get more followers and likes? Consider turning to a platform like SocialWick for targeted solutions.
But what questions should you ask a mentor? To help you answer this question, we’ve got some great discussion topics for mentors and mentees. But before we do that, let’s learn how to select a mentor.
Tips on Choosing a Mentor
When looking for a mentor, consider the following:
Shared value
Choose a mentor who shares your values and principles. When you are on the same page, you can understand each other, which makes the training more effective. You will comprehend their situation better, and they will also tailor their method to your specific needs.
Goals
What goals are you trying to achieve? Has your mentor attained this goal? If you can answer yes to these
enquiries, they are the right person to help you overcome obstacles to your goals.
Ability To Challenge You
Will your mentor challenge you to become a better version of yourself? If you are trying to master a skill, ask yourself if your mentor has achieved it before you. This will allow them to guide you accordingly.
Accessibility
How easy is it to contact your mentor when you need their help? You may be impressed by a senior business leader, but they may not want to mentor you if you don’t connect in person. Don’t be discouraged and keep looking.
What You Admire
Choose someone you admire in your field. Research their career or business path and find out what you like about them. You may want to do this for several professionals before choosing who to approach.
Questions to Ask a Career Mentor
If you have a mentor at work, here are some questions you can ask them to recover your career.
- What do you think are my strengths?
- What areas can I improve on to achieve the goals I shared with you?
- How can I gain discipline to achieve my goals?
- How can I manage my time more effectively to achieve my goal?
- What skills do I need to advance my career faster?
- Where did I go wrong and what could I have done differently?
- What difficult choices did you have to make to advance in your career?
- What challenges did you face to get where you are and how did you overcome them?
- What professional experiences did it take for you to get to where you are?
- What do you wish someone had told you when you were where I am now?
- How can I find people to build relationships with to achieve greater success?
- What values do you hold dear and how have they changed in your career?
- What do you do when you’re not working and why did you choose this particular activity?
- What are your expectations for this mentoring relationship and how can I benefit you?
- What career accomplishments have you achieved and what tests have you faced in trying to achieve them?
- What professional organizations are you a member of and why?
- What is your greatest weakness and how do you overcome it?
- What decisions have brought you the greatest success in your career?
- What qualities should I develop to have a competitive advantage over my peers?
- What does success look like at this point in my career?
Questions to Ask a Business Mentor
- What do you enjoy most about being an entrepreneur, and what do you find most challenging?
- What advice would you give to someone starting a business?
- What steps have you taken to grow your business to where it is today?
- What are your go-to tips?
- What would you do differently if you were in my shoes?
- What are the key lessons you’ve learned along the way as an entrepreneur?
- How do you brainstorm and decide which business ideas to pursue?
- Tell me about a recent downturn in business and how you overcame it.
- Are there any popular pieces of advice about entrepreneurship that you disagree with and why?
- Do you have a template you use to create your long-term vision?
- How do you separate your business finances from your personal finances?
- Think back five years. Did you envision your business as it is today?
- What do you wish you knew before diving into business?
- How do you handle demanding clients?
- How can I better manage the people who report to me?
- How do you plan to grow your business with an entrepreneurial mindset?
- Have you ever made a mistake and felt like a failure? How did you recover from the mistake?
- How do you know how much risk to take?
- What are the hardest business skills to learn?
- How do I stay connected with the people who will help me take my business to the next level?
Wrapping Up
Whether you are meeting your mentor for the first time or have met a few times and feel like the conversation is getting repetitive, don’t write off the relationship so quickly. Understanding mentoring topics to discuss will help you keep the conversation going and avoid awkward moments. You can start with the study questions above.
