I lost a dog once, and a few hours looking online provided a lens into an alternate reality: a countryside crawling with millions of lost pets and owners looking for them.
It seems like finding a mentor is a bit like that too. Millions of bright, competent developers are looking for those elusive mentors. Are they finding them? And if so, how?
Finding Mentors on the Web
Fortunately, there are several websites like Score that are trying to solve this problem. “SCORE set me up with an amazing mentor in a similar industry. We have been working together for the past four years, and I consider her a friend for life,” writes Sai Karedla on Quora. Other options are Mentorcruise and Micro Mentor. This is one place where paying for services is a good idea – it can help you commit to a relationship, and it’s easier to establish a paid relationship than asking someone for help.
Social media would seem to be the ideal way to connect would-be mentees with mentors. Both LinkedIn and Facebook have developed functionality to find mentors, but you may have to wait a while before these services ramp up. For example, last November LinkedIn introduced LinkedIn Career Advice; however, a quick check online shows the only option at this time is to register to become a mentor. Facebook’s program, Mentorship, inside of Facebook Groups, is also facing some challenges scaling up.
Twitter may be a better option, albeit more of a DIY project. One approach is to follow a few thought leaders in your area of interest. Follow who they retweet, who reply to their tweets consistently, even some of the people Twitter suggests for you. When they pose a question, it’s an opportunity to engage with them. It’s a slow process to build a relationship this way. However, the ideas and articles they share are worth paying attention to, the same as if you discussed them over coffee. Case in point: software company founder Stephanie Hurlburt often tweets excellent career advice, and has a great list of resources for engineers seeking mentors on her personal blog.
IRL Approaches to Finding a Mentor
Mike Moore, a Senior Product Manager at Intuit suggests you “attend trade/industry specific events focused on learning and growing skills, the best of their industry constantly learn and innovate. When you’re at these events, be brave and ask for what you want — a mentor. In our digitally connected world you can have a great mentor across the country with a weekly Skype call.” If connecting with someone on the floor of a noisy, crowded conference seems a bit daunting, local meetups are probably a lighter lift. Meetup has a mentoring category, which may be a good place to start, depending on your location.
Finally, you only have so much time to devote to searching for a mentor on social media or other online platforms. They may be a one-way relationship, but books can still be mentors. Writes author and entrepreneur James Altucher in a thread on Quora, “Books are written by my virtual mentors. The authors spend years curating their best thoughts on one topic. Years! And I get to absorb those years with just a few hours of reading. I will take those virtual mentors all day long.”
