Hvordan finne en mentor
Have you been accepted into the mentor program, but there are no available mentors who fit your background? Don’t give up yet – there might still be a way to get you matched with the perfect mentor!
Mentoring isn’t rocket science, and it doesn’t have to take place in a formal mentoring program. In fact, many of us have had several relationships throughout our lives with a large degree of mentoring. What this means is that you don’t have to sit around and wait for us to find you the perfect mentor. You can seek out that mentor for yourself outside of the Sammen om en jobb community. Then, if you wish, you can bring that mentor into the community for free.
It might feel scary and be a bit more work to find a mentor on your own, but there are a few significant benefits to this approach:
You are not limited to the ≈200 mentors in Sammen om en jobb, but have access to several hundred thousand potential mentors in the whole Norwegian workforce.
Recruiting your own mentor might be quicker than sitting around and waiting for one of our mentors to become available.
Reaching out to someone you don’t know takes a lot of courage which is an excellent way to leave your comfort zone, grow, and to become more confident networking with new people.
Here is a three-step guide to recruiting your own mentor:
🔎 1. Find a person
Ideally, your mentor should have some knowledge of your field and of the Norwegian labour market. However, they do not have to be experts on neither in order for you to gain a lot of value from the relationship. One of the most important roles of the mentor is to provide motivation and accountability through regular meetings and encouragement.
A few places to find a potential mentor includes:
LinkedIn
Conferences
Someone already in your network or in your network’s network
👋 2. Reach out
Asking someone right away to become your mentor might be a bit too much. If the person knows nothing about you, it is unlikely they will commit to becoming your mentor. Therefore, the first step should be to make a good first impression and start building a relation.
Therefore, asking for a first meeting could be better than asking the person to become your mentor right away. Depending on how the meeting goes, you could ask if they would have the time and interest to meet you again, or on a more regular basis.
A few things to do to make it desirable for the mentor:
Why do you want to help from exactly that person? What difference is that going to make for your career
What’s in it for the other person you want to mentor you?
Clarify that you will prepare all of the meetings so that it will not take that much time from the mentor
You can make it more exclusive by saying that you are part of Norway’s largest mentor program
Make sure you are culturally sensitive so that you don’t come on too hard or the opposite
✉️ 3. Invite to join Sammen om en jobb
If you wish to formalise the mentor relationship, and give the mentor access to all our structures, resources and example agendas, you can invite the mentor to the Sammen om en jobb community completely for free. Read more about the benefits for mentors here.
If you have clarified with a mentor and want us to formally match you in our digital platform, send an email to support@sammenomenjobb.no and we’ll help you with the technicalities. If you have any questions or want help recruiting your own mentor, you can also reach out to us on this email.
