When you first meet with your mentee, dependant on their previous experience’s, you may find that they are not sure how to start the conversation or relationship. Often times it is best to share your experience’s of how you started and continued to progress in your career; this provides a “starting-point” for conversations that are meaningful.
If after sharing, they are still quiet, here are a couple questions you can consider asking to create an environment where they feel comfortable and willing to share.
Simple introductory questions:
· What program are you in and why?
· Tell me a little bit about your background.
· What got you interested in the industry?
Here are some questions to gain an understanding of who your mentee is trying to be:
· What is it that you really want to be and do? (Encourage them to be honest in their response as the remainder of the questions will be based off the first one.)
· What are you doing really well that is helping you get there?
· What are you not doing well that is preventing you from getting there?
· What will you do differently tomorrow to meet those challenges?
· How can I help / where do you need the most help?
As previously stated in the opening paragraph this is a “starting point” for getting to know your mentee. Try to understand how the mentee must be feeling. They could be nervous, overwhelmed, or even at a loss of words. Understanding how the mentee is feeling is crucial to the initial conversation.
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