Mentorship
Finding a quality Mentor is easier than ever! Just fill out a one-page application about yourself and what you’re looking for in a mentor and the Women in HVACR Organization will find you the perfect Mentor!
As part of an effort to bring the highest value to our members, we started the WHVAC Mentorship Program to connect the many seasoned professionals in our organization together with newer additions to our industry to foster professional growth, networking opportunities and build relationships.
What Is a Mentor?
A mentor is an experienced professional in who offers career guidance, advice and assistance. Someone who has been where you are and can offer a "been there, done that" perspective to help you avoid pitfalls and reinventing the wheel. A mentor does NOT need to be older, boast multiple excellence awards or have a pedigree of any kind. Most mentees would prefer to interact with someone relatable.
Being a Mentor
A good mentor has experience in the same field as you and is willing to share his or her knowledge and experiences in order to help you succeed. Their job will be to listen, offer understanding and provide honest input, even when it’s hard to hear or to give. They can help you set and achieve career goals, make smarter business decisions, overcome workplace challenges, learn new skills or simply offer an unbiased third-party perspective when you're facing frustrations at work.
How Can a Mentor Help Me?
To be a mentor, you do not need to be award-winning or at the pinnacle of your career, all it takes is an eagerness to share knowledge, a willingness to be open and honest, and some time to dedicate to the process (how much time you have is up to you and flexible). Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, as your mentees may potentially be sharing a lot of sensitive information with you, it is imperative that you treat their information confidentially and appropriately.
8 Reasons to Have a Mentor
- Been there and done that. Achieved what you have already pursued. Already been Through struggles, made mistakes, and will share.
- Talk to someone who is an unbiased 3rd party. They are not your mother, putting personal feelings above fact. Most are emotionally invested in you and can look at past for what they are – they don’t need to support you, they only care about your results.
- Have a whole different network of contacts and connections, swimming with bigger fish, facilitate access and open doors for you. Deem worthy to introduce you to others in their network.
- Best free service you can ever get. Real mentor wants you to succeed, not for financial gain, but for you to grow, feeds their own soul. They call you out on your short coming that you don’t see. Help you where you fail to see big picture, get rid of ego.
- May introduce you to a carrier or business opportunity you did not know of before connect multiple dots that may be out of reach for you.
- You can stay in business longer, they already have made a ton of expensive mistakes. They can warn you ahead of time or if you are already in it, how to come out of it. Increasing your chances of surviving. Only 20% of business survive 1st year, only ½ get to year 5.
- Representation of your goals. Easier to reach if you have a clear destination of where you are going.
- Understand the struggle – Very few around you go through the same struggles. Know what its likes to work 14 to 15 hours per day. Share your core values. They see themselves in you, relate to your story, to your struggles.
In 2018, we have added the below targets and topics to help each mentor relationship flourish.
In 2018, each mentor/mentee relationship is asked to meet the following targets to further develop a beneficial relationship:
2018 Mentorship Targets:
- Set-up Introductory Phone Conversation
- Schedule meeting to meet in person
- Plan to meet 1-2 hours every other month in person or over the phone (6 meetings a year)
- Information discussed in the mentorship program will remain confidential - blank non-disclosure agreements are included in your mentorship packet.
- Fill out mentorship survey after each meeting
To continue to facilitate growth in our mentorship program, in 2018 we are including subjects of discussion for each of your mentorship sessions:
- Feb/Mar - Breaking through barriers to realize career success in the HVAC industry
- April/May - Knowing your strengths and preferences
- June/July - Tips and strategies for coping with feeling overextended and for achieving work/life balance.
- Aug/Sept - Managing conflict in the work environment.
- Oct/Nov - Tips for staying up-to-date in one’s field.
- Dec - How to get involved in committees
Topics - Smopics - The topics listed above are established as a guide-line for your conversations. We want your relationships to grow organically and the conversations to be authentic.
Survey: We ask that each mentor relationship take a brief minute to fill out the mentorship survey on our web site after each meeting. This will enable us to record the program and further develop this program to meet your needs
15 Questions to Ask a Mentor or to Answer Before You Decide to Mentor
- How did you land your current role? Tell me about your successes and failures.
- Can you tell me a time when you had a difficult boss? How did you handle it? How did you learn to embrace failure?
- What is the most important leadership lesson you’ve learned and how is it valuable today?
- Was there ever a job position that you applied for and got, but that you were not 100% qualified? What do you think or how do you feel about “fake it until you make it”?
- Who are the people that I need to align myself with in this organization to achieve success?
- How do you stay connected to key influencers who do not work in the same office or geographical area?
- When you are trying to gain buy in to implement a new program, what tactics have worked for you?
- Where do you see my strengths and what should I focus on to improve?
- What do you see as some of my blind spots?
- How do you think others perceive me?
- How could I have communicated my idea more clearly?
- How do you approach risk taking?
- What new skills do I need to move ahead?
- How can I become a more assertive negotiator?
- How can I become better at managing people who do not report to me?