Tips for Mentees

Following is some advice for Mentee’s in the Mentoring @ QAL Program on how to make your mentoring search and experience more meaningful:

Think about what you want. Think carefully about what you want out of the mentorship, what kind of mentor you’d like and the questions you’d like answered. That way, you can search for mentors that better match your interests. The more you know your own goals, the more your mentor can help you.

Long distance relationships? Think carefully about what kind of interactions you’d like with your Mentor. While long-distance relationships can be difficult to maintain, a mentor at another Airport can help you with aspects of your career that a local mentor wouldn’t be as able to assist with. Be strategic. If you are thinking about opening your networks further connecting with a mentor in another location is an effective strategy. Surface hub, Microsoft Teams and Skype are great tools to connect with a long-distance mentor.

Utilize Linkedin Learning. There will be a number of resources at your disposal through the partnership with Griffith. As well as this, QAL offers self directed learning opportunities through LinkedIn Learning – take advantage as this will also give you content to discuss with your mentor

Capture this development opportunity. It is a great opportunity to participate in this program. Make sure you talk to your leader and capture the mentoring as a development objective in QAL Talent.

Don’t delay. Once you get a mentor match, try to contact your mentor within two days of getting matched. Keep on top of things.

Establish Expectations. When you make contact with your mentor for the first time, take some time to establish expectations of how you’d like your relationship to be. For example, do you want more of a focus on building relevant skills vs. more career advice, will you meet once a week vs. once a month, will you meet in-person or via Surfacehub, Teams, Skype, communicate using email, etc.

Be Proactive. If your mentor hasn’t responded to you in a while, don’t be shy about emailing or calling them again. They may have just gotten busy or missed your email. Remember, your mentor signed up for the program because of their interest in mentoring. If you don’t hear after several attempts, contact the People and Culture Team.

Make it personal. Be sure to get to know your mentor on a personal level. While mentors are certainly excellent career resources, you can learn a lot from their personal stories as well.

Keep it consistent. Even if you can’t make contact with your mentor very often, try to keep it consistent (I.e. connect with them every couple of weeks. If there are long periods of time between your interactions, it may be more difficult to maintain a strong relationship.

Let People and Culture help. If you ever need support in building your mentor relationship or any aspect of the program, don’t hesitate to contact a member of the People and Culture Team for some advice.