Finding Mentorship and Sponsorship During a Pandemic
Mentorship and Sponsorships are critical to professional and personal relationships. Maybe you need help finding whom to go to for advice or maybe you need to build rapport with someone who can advocate for you. These people don’t necessarily need to be “higher ups”, they can be people who are at your level too. In fact, these people should be your peers, so look left and right because you are more likely to get a job through an acquaintance.
If you are looking to forge your path to mentorship there are a spectrum of opportunities. None are mutually exclusive, however there is a correlation between the mentorship archetypes and length of time of relationship, with the last one being someone that has likely known you longer.
Below are the 5 archetypes on the mentorship to sponsorship scale, followed by the ways to attain each, even remotely!
Questions? Reach out to [email protected] or DM @thedatadame
Mentor: Provides advice and support
Navigator: Shares “insider information” about advancing, helps you to chart your course
Connector: Makes introductions and talks you up to influential people
Champion: Provides high-visibility opportunities
Advocate: Publicly advocates on your behalf in places where you can’t fight for yourself, whether it be for promotional opportunities or sharing your work
Building your bridges from Mentor to Advocate:
Mentor:
Reach out: Connect with those in your field or desired field. Before reaching out, do some homework.
- What is the current state of the industry that they work in and that you desire to work in?
- Identify talking points about what you would like to learn about their career path.
Recommendation: The best way is to connect is to send a direct message on LinkedIn or any professional networking site. On LinkedIn, LinkedIn messages have led to new opportunities for 35% of users. Schedule some time for a video chat or call accordingly. Though a video chat is probably the best way and puts a face to the name.
Navigator:
Who is a person in your circle who knows the ins and outs of advancing in roles? Is this person close to you?
You may find this person in professional associations (think NABJ, the National Association of Black Journalists, NAMIC ,National Association for Multi-ethnicity in Communications or NLGJA, The Association of LGBTQ Journalists, to name a few in media)
Recommendation: Do some research, you may need to join a professional association or volunteer in an area that you love. Schedule a “Virtual Coffee Chat” and be prepared to listen to places of opportunities and the strategies that can get you ahead.
Connector:
Who do you know that you can immediately reach out to to help you with an introduction? Maybe they are familiar with your work, you have a good rapport where you catch-up once or twice a year
Recommendation: Ask for the introduction to a person whom you would love to one day work with. Check your network to see if you have people who are connected with the person of interest. Start reaching out to Person #1 and let them know:
1. Whom you would like to be connected with
2. Why you would like to be connected
3. What projects or other initiatives you are working on that you can tout to position yourself as a value-add to the person you would like to connect with.
Next, wait for the introduction, if it takes a while (2-3 weeks), politely nudge. It is likely that your Connector may need to catch up with the person before intro-ing you. If there is still no introduction, move on and find another person who can get you connected.
Champion:
This person is likely familiar with the quality of your work but not your direct boss. This person is likely your go-to to write a professional letter of recommendation for you.
Recommendation: Think of people in cross-functional areas where they may see your work. “Be an ear”, ask questions, and figure out where you can be of help, next let them know where you want to go and what you would like to do (in confidence).
If the scenario doesn’t work for you, whether you are road blocked politically or frankly, someone takes credit for your work, branch out.
You may need to cultivate your Champion by putting in the extra work, and picking up projects to help build trust. Good for you, you are learning something new and getting exposed to someone who has potential to sing your praises.
Advocate:
Who is THE person you go to for career advice and a decision maker within the company? The person who is either at the table or built their own table? If you don’t have this person on a DM level, it’s ok, you are working towards it.
Whether informally or formally, this person can make waves and has potential to offer you a career opportunity.
Recommendation: This type of relationship takes time and work to cultivate, like growing a houseplant or garden in your backyard. Watering and tending is necessary, but make sure there is balance. Schedule quarterly check-ins, listen to what they say regarding industry trends, advocate for yourself so that you take the work out of what your sponsor can do for you.
Questions? Reach out to [email protected] or DM @thedatadame