Mentoring?

CarrieB.

Has anyone been a mentor before? I signed up to mentor a Junior student in Communications where I'm an alumni. We are supposed to meet monthly for an hour. There is a session coming up to introduce us and go over the program, but I'm a little nervous bc I've never been a mentor before. The campus is really close to my office, so I was just thinking we could meet for lunch once a month.

FemShep

I've been a mentor.  One of the most important things to do is set ground rules and expectations for the relationship.  For example, set a schedule for when you're going to meet.  Agree to email the week before to discuss topics for that month's lunch.  Establishing a "business relationship" tone as well as topics helps make the time more productive for everyone.

I've also found that people sometimes don't know where they need help; a good way to draw out potential mentoring topics is to ask about times when she's been confused or upset by something that happens at work.  Asking about her goals and her plans for achieving them is also a great way to find topics to discuss.