Welcome to Ask Jen, a weekly Q&A with the “career doctor” herself
Message from Jen: Hey guys! Today I’m heading off to Graceland University in Iowa so once again, we turn to YSN’s Chief Career Guru Bob Cohen to answer this week’s question!
YSN member tiffany_niver asks: What do you look for in a mentor and how do you mentor others?
Bob Cohen responds: Chemistry is a big factor to the relationship… generally I’ve been more inclined to mentor people who I find some connection with. Much like interviews, you can “manage” the chemistry a bit by doing some advance work on the mentor you’ve targeted. It’s likely that the person you’d like to learn from has a broader experiential footprint and may be fairly easy to track down using some of the conventional methods. I’m not suggesting a complete personality transformation (you do have to live with yourself), but I would guess that some of interests or activities this person pursues might actually be fun for you as well. Whatever you do, but polite and grateful. There’s nothing that turns people off is to feel like they have been taken for granted.
