The hard part can be finding a mentor, but once you find one, then you need to figure out what to talk about and come up with questions to ask your mentor.
If you know me, you know I’m all about mentorship and career growth. I’ve had both formal and informal mentors in my personal and professional life. During my freshman year of college, I signed up for a peer mentorship program and got assigned to a girl who was from my hometown and had a similar major (if you’re reading this, Yael you’re the best!!). Since high school, I’ve also organically found photography mentorship from other photographers.
Now, in my corporate career, I have 1 on 1 meetings with my directors, and I’ve also joined a more “official” Women’s Leadership Network mentorship program, so I have a mentor who is a group director at another agency within my parent company. If you’re wondering about my job, I’ve recently changed teams, but I spent the past five years in media planning at an advertising agency called Initiative. You can read more about that in this post.
While creative mentors are important, this blog post will focus on questions to ask mentors in a more conventional corporate 9-5 job setting.
I’ve been in the working world for 5 years (oof), and I’ve learned that it’s important to know what the purpose of a meeting is, whether that’s getting alignment on next steps, asking questions, getting approval on something, etc. This is where a meeting agenda is helpful. Depending on who I’m talking with, sometimes I have a full agenda with topics and questions to ask, other times, it’s just some bullets to reference so we aren’t sitting in silence. Your time is valuable and so is theirs, so you want to make sure you’re making the most of your conversation.
I have found success with the mentor meeting agenda format below for a 30-minute meeting. If you’re doing a virtual meeting online, you can type notes during the conversation. I keep notes for all my 1:1s in OneNote and have a page for each person. If it’s an in-person meeting, you can take notes during or right after the call. Sometimes I’ll put this in the body of the calendar invite a few days before the meeting so my mentor can come prepared as well. Other times I’ll just have it open in my notes to help guide the conversation. Reminder: If you don’t have anything to chat about, it’s totally ok to cancel your meeting with your mentor, they’ll appreciate the time back!
Agenda Format:
1) Fun icebreaker question (what’s your favorite ice cream flavor/movie/food/anything)
2) Any updates on any projects on what you’re both working on lately
3) 3-5 questions on a topic
4) Outro: Could be casual, like what are your plans for the weekend, or you could recap any next steps you will take before your next meeting.
If you’re not sure what kinds of topics you should use or questions to ask a mentor, I’ve included 13 below as thought starters. Hope these are helpful!
Meeting Topic #1: Meeting Your Mentor
What’s your role at the company?
How long have you been working there?
Why did you get into your field?
Where else have you worked?
Why did you decide to be a mentor?
What can I provide in this relationship?
How often would you like to meet?
Meeting Topic #2: Your Mentor’s Experience
What does your day-to-day look like?
What is your favorite and least favorite part of your job?
What has been your favorite job and company to work for over your career?
What are you most proud of in your career?
Do you have any regrets from projects that didn’t go well or opportunities you didn’t take?
Can you tell me about some of your career goals?
Meeting Topic #3: Career Growth
Who have been other mentors in your life?
How did you know when to leave for a new opportunity?
How did you get to the next level in your current or previous companies?
What are some things I can do to show that I am ready for a promotion?
How should I go about asking for a promotion?
Can you give me tips for how to negotiate my salary?
Meeting Topic #4: Organization and Time Management
How do you keep your email inbox organized?
How many meetings do you usually have per week?
Where do you keep your notes? Is there a platform you use for notetaking?
What format do you use for your to-do list?
How do you prioritize tasks?
What are some things you do to save time? Any shortcuts or tools?
Do you have any other organization or productivity tips?
Meeting Topic #5: Leadership
What is the hardest part of leading a team?
How can I show that I’m a leader on the team if I’m new on the team or not very high on the corporate ladder?
How can I be a leader if I’m more shy and am not the loudest person in the room?
Do you ask your team for feedback on your leadership?
How do you prepare for presentations? Any public speaking tips?
Do you have any books you’d recommend on this topic?
Meeting Topic #6: Managing Up
What are some qualities or habits of star employees that have worked below you?
I want to make sure I’m not over or under-communicating with my boss. What tips do you have for checking in and relaying messages up and down?
My boss’s leadership style doesn’t work for me, can you help me think of ways I can make this work?
I know my boss is busy, but I feel like I need more support, do you have any advice?
What are some ways I can get leadership to notice me?
Meeting Topic #7: Managing Down
How would you describe your management style and how did you develop it?
How do you stay organized when managing other people?
I’m struggling with delegating tasks because I don’t trust my team to get the project done correctly.
My team is not performing well. How can I give them feedback without blaming or complaining about them?
How do I motivate a strong-performing team member when there isn’t a role to promote them into?
Meeting Topic #8: Team Culture Building
What was your favorite team to work with and why?
What are some examples of how your company builds team culture?
How can I keep my team happy and motivated when there is a lot on their plate?
What are some daily or weekly routines that your team does to boost team culture?
What are some non-cheesy team bonding activities?
Meeting Topic #9: Stress and Burnout
How do you cope with stress when work is really busy?
What are your signs of burnout?
If you’ve ever been burned out, how did you recover?
How do you help your team members when they are getting burned out?
What are your morning and after-work routines?
Meeting Topic #10: Job Searching
I’m thinking about getting a new job because I want do more of X and less of Y. Do you know of any types of positions that you think I should consider?
If you weren’t working at your current company, where would you want to work?
Are you a part of any networking groups? Any tips for networking?
Can you review my resume?
In your experience, what are red and green flags to look out for when looking for a new job or interviewing?
What are your tips for job interviews?
Meeting Topic #11: Goal Setting
What were some of your goals when you were at my age/my position?
Do you have a goal setting template that you use?
How often do you set goals?
How do you measure the success of your goals?
Can you help me create actionable steps to reach my goals?
Meeting Topic #12: Impostor Syndrome
Have you ever dealt with impostor syndrome?
In your experience, does impostor syndrome decrease with age and experience?
In what ways has impostor syndrome helped you? In what ways has it hindered you?
What are some ways to boost confidence in the workplace?
How can I become a leader even if I feel like an impostor?
Meeting Topic #13: Knowledge/Resource Share
What are the books, podcasts, films, or any other content that you’ve found helpful in your career?
If you could only follow 5 accounts on social media besides your friends/family, what or who would you follow and why?
Are there any mobile apps that you enjoy using daily? Productivity/work-related and non-work related?
What is the best item you’ve purchased in the last year?
RECOMMENDED READING:
My 2023 Book Reviews
40 Lessons I Learned From My First Year of Full-Time Employment
