How mentoring can further your PR career
With the A level results and intern opportunities on the rise in the PR industry I wanted to take the opportunity to write about a topic which is very close to my heart, mentoring.
We all start with some form of dream, goal or expectation of how life should be.
In the school of life all experiences either move you towards or away from your goal.
I believe the difference lies in the people you have around you.
Yes, you will ultimately have to put in the ground work but it is invaluable to have people around you who can give you advice and support along the way.
I was very lucky to have a mentor early in my career, which meant I accelerated quickly through my early twenties. I am forever grateful for the opportunity to work close with someone who understood what I wanted to achieve in my career and understood where I was in my learning curve.
Another useful tip I was given was to surround myself and reach out to people inside and outside my industry. People who either have the same job as you, have done the job you currently have or are doing the job you aspire to do. Which I did and still do.
Little did I know I would have the biggest mentors right in front of me – my mum and my grandmother. Even though we all work in different industries and span three generations, business is still business, and I have not come across a single situation that they haven’t experienced themselves.
Mentors and role models are everywhere, you just have to look for them.
The PRCA and PRWeek recently launched their own mentoring scheme. The ‘Fast Track in PR’ scheme is ‘aimed at inspiring the next generation of PR leaders’ and sees 9 fellows of the PRCA offer a 6 month period of mentoring to those looking to achieve their goals and further their careers.
If you are lucky enough to have a mentor at work, embrace this opportunity! If not, don’t fear, take what you can get from people around you, go to networking events, read books, articles, use linked in and social media, talk to people and ask questions! We are all people, most of us are very friendly and helpful. If not, then you probably don’t want them as your mentor in the first place!
Successfully managed to find someone you believe can help? The key to get the most out of your mentor relationship is to be clear on what you want to get out of it. That will help steer the questions you ask, help you know advice you are looking for and will ultimately shape what you talk about when you speak with them.
Not sure about how to reach your goal? Here are 10 questions that helped me through process.
- What do you want to achieve in the future?
- If you achieve this goal what value will it bring to your life?
- How will you know when you have achieved this goal?
- Is achieving this goal within your control?
- What are the positive consequences of achieving this goal?
- Do you have all the resources you need to achieve this goal?
- What time frame do you need to achieve this goal by?
- What are the consequences of not achieving this goal on time?
- What steps need to happen to achieve this goal?
- If you could take those steps now, are you ready to do it?
Although these questions look a little formal, answering them made it very clear to me what I needed to do.
Yes, I am very goal driven, and I leave very little down to chance. But there is one thing I wish I could have done differently and it is something that I’m still learning to master, and that is to enjoy the journey and to trust the process. Know what you want to achieve, do things every day that will get you closer to your goal, surround yourself with the right people but remember to enjoy the ride.
