Careers blog: Why every graduate needs a mentor

Imagine having someone who’s been where you’re going, someone who can help you avoid the potholes and spot the opportunities. Alumni Careers Manager Konstantina Dee explores mentorship and why every graduate could benefit from it:

Let’s talk about mentoring. Not just because the re-designed WBS Mentoring programme is even better than before (with new training, psychometric profiling, and events). But because after investing years in your education and professional development, a mentor might be exactly what you need when career challenges occur. 

I have been scrolling LinkedIn to see what preoccupies recent graduates:  

“Anyone else feeling like they did all the networking and still don't have a single person in their corner? Accepting applications for a personal career shaman.” 

or

“Help a friend out! Need a mentor who understands the post-MBA grind and can tell me if this offer is a total lowball.”

or

“Need a mentor to tell me what three skills I actually need to level up. Seriously, DM me.”

Sounds familiar?  These are not WBS alumni, but they could be. They are all looking for the same thing: someone to quiet the panic and provide direction. 

Here are five ways a WBS mentor can be your ‘career shaman’:  

Bring career clarity 
Prestigious job titles that looked perfect after your MBA or MSc? Two years in and you realise it is not for you. A mentor can support you to discover where your values, interests, and skills align. A mentor can help you find your purpose and your ‘reason for being’ as the Japanese concept of ikigai suggests.   

Support in negotiation  
Often in eagerness to accept a job offer after university, you don’t negotiate hard for your first compensation package. It might be due to inexperience, unfamiliarity with local context, or simply not knowing how. An experienced mentor can help you to research the market, understand industry pay scales, and even practise these awkward conversations around salary, benefits and equity share.

Navigate office politics and conflicts
As Amy Gallo says: ‘There is no such thing as a conflict-free office’. We all have different ways of dealing with conflicts, and a mentor can be invaluable here. They'll help you assess what type of conflict you're facing. Is it a conflict about resources, personalities, or competing priorities? They'll explore your natural preferences for handling tension (do you avoid, accommodate, or confront?) and work with you to figure out a plan for dealing with it efficiently and productively.

An external view of a conflict is always beneficial because someone outside the conflict situation can see patterns and solutions that are invisible when you're in the thick of it.

Beyond individual conflicts, a mentor helps you navigate internal politics, so these don't become barriers to your progression. Mentors can share similar experiences from their own career, help you understand the unwritten rules and internal hierarchy, and decode the power dynamics you might be missing.

Identify real skills gaps
Multiple times I have conversations with graduates, who are keen to spend their evenings and weekends on additional credentials without pausing to assess if these are necessary for their chosen career path. A mentor can help you understand what actually counts in your chosen field and help you build strategic connections instead of hiding behind additional certificates.

Protect your well-being
Mentors know how to recognise when you are close to burning out under the pressures at work or low because of job rejections. They have been there before, they have faced tight deadlines and job disappointments.  A mentor can help you distinguish between busyness and productivity and remind you to take time with friends and family and to rest and enjoy your hobbies.  

Do you recongise yourself in one of those scenarios? Does one of the quoted LinkedIn posts resonate with you? It is time to find someone who has navigated these challenges and can guide you through yours.  

Find out more about the WBS Global Mentoring Programme here.