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About 2,800 years ago, Greek poet, Homer wrote an epic poem which he titled, “The Odyssey“. It was a story about the travails of a man named Odysseus, who journeyed to his homeland, Ithaca after the Trojan War. The journey wasn’t exactly smooth as he faced several obstacles which included encounters with mythical creatures, gods, and various trials. On getting home, he also found his kingdom already overrun by strangers. In the story, the goddess of wisdom, Athena, assumed the form of a character named, Mentor, and with her help, Odysseus was able to triumph over his challenges and reclaim Ithaca alongside his son, Telemachus. 2800 years later, this story still remains relevant as it underscores the importance of proper guidance. It is also responsible for the term, mentor, being used to describe a person who offers guidance to another, in the present day.
Mentorship has been proven to be very important for a person looking to have a good career. A five-year study of 1000 employees was published in 2006. In this study, they tracked employees who participated in a mentoring program and those who didn’t and found out among other things that those who had mentors were promoted five times more often than their counterparts. Another study shows that compared to colleagues who did not mentor, individuals who served as mentors within their workplace reported greater job satisfaction and commitment to the organization. The results of these studies are not surprising as quite a number of people have witnessed and enjoyed the benefits of connecting or getting advice from someone who is a professional at what they do.
In a world where we are more connected than we were thirty years ago, where distance is not a barrier to communication, the question remains, how does one find a mentor or connect with an industry professional? Below are a few ways you can do so:
1. Social media: From connecting us to long-lost friends, enabling us to engage in online banter, recommending posts and videos that keep us entertained or informed, allowing us to make friends of strangers to serving as a platform through which certain goods and services can be bought or sold, social media has, and continues to play an integral role in our lives. According to Wikipedia, there are more than 30 social media platforms with at least 100 million active users. This number comprises different people from different parts of the world communicating and connecting with each other irrespective of distance. If you’re looking to find a mentor or an industry professional to connect with, getting active on different social media is something you should consider. Social media allows you to directly message people, make posts, interact with posts, join online communities, etc.
One way to find mentors or industry professionals is to first determine what industry or niche you would like to find them in. Clarity on what niche/industry you’d like to find a mentor in is very important as it lets you know what exactly to search for. For example, if you are a person who has dabbled in online businesses for a short while and desires to connect with someone who is a professional in the industry. It is important for you first to determine what exact niche/industry you’re looking to get mentorship on. There are several internet businesses like drop-shipping, affiliate marketing, blogging, etc. Your decision to choose a niche will in turn inform your search queries. Social media possess powerful search algorithms that you can take advantage of. A simple search on what niche you decided upon will grant you access to different content made by people who are knowledgeable in the space. You can then filter out who you would like to connect with or get mentored by.
2. The Internet: You might wonder why the Internet was included in the list after social media was already mentioned. It’s that way because, a lot of times, people confuse social media with the internet when they’re, in fact, very different from each other. Social media are subsets of the internet. They comprise a few of the millions of platforms or websites on the internet.
As someone searching for mentorship or a professional in a particular industry, you can use the internet by following up with articles or blog posts written about topics in your industry of choice. These articles or blog posts will most likely be written by someone knowledgeable or professional and might also contain the contact information of the writer. You can then reach out to them, build a relationship with them, or politely ask them for help in your career path.
3. Physical and virtual events relating to your industry: Another thing you should do to connect with professionals in your industry is to ensure you attend industry-related physical and virtual events. A simple Google search or social media search of events relating to your niche will most likely be fruitful as most events tend to do a lot of publicity to ensure maximum attendance.
4. Social gatherings: Social gatherings like churches, mosques, parties, etc. sometimes contain people who are professionals in your field of choice or people who know those who are. So, it’s best you endeavor to put on a pleasant demeanor at social gatherings and be vocal about what you do.
While this is not an exhaustive list of how to get access to a mentor or an industry professional, it can serve as a good start. Having access to a mentor is something to strive towards if you are looking to advance in your career choice.
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