Thanks for doing this all! Y'all are awesome and love the work you do. I have a question as a relatively new mentor as it relates to mentor searches that I hope you can help with. I've been kind of thrust into the mentor role during the pandemic, through my own newsletter, and due to the recognizable name of the company I work for (Spotify) on LinkedIn and my alumni networks. I've found that for the most part, mentees are gracious and thankful with wonderful questions via my newsletter.
However, I've come across a few on LinkedIn and my own alumni networks (NYU, USC) that contact me for mentorship and set up a call, but it soon becomes clear that they didn't want mentorship at all; they expect a job referral after one conversation. I've found this to be a bit rude, but I also understand that the job market, plainly, sucks right now, so people are trying everything they can.
On my side, Spotify's referral system isn't like other places (just putting in the name of someone you heard about the job from); it expects that you know all of your referrals really well and asks you questions detailed about your working/personal relationship with them, which is why I naturally prefer to only refer people I've worked with before.
I just wanted to ask you all: I still want to serve as a mentor and I'm happy to do so, but is this a common expectation that you find among mentees? How do you weed out those who are just after a job referral vs. those who want a true mentor? And how can I properly communicate this in someone's mentor search that I'm willing to be a mentor but I'm uncomfortable referring them to a job until I get to know them better/serve as their mentor for a while? I have a note in my LinkedIn bio about it, but I still get messages all the time asking for referrals. Thanks for reading and considering this accidentally long question.
Like Mags here, I've been craving mentorship since I started. I came to the US in 2016 and started my career there so I had to figure out a lot of things on my own, without any prior professional network. I guess having a mentor would be good to evaluate your career choices and to know when you're making a mistake/taking a step back or not; and for people like me who haven't had the most traditional early-career path in journalism, how to leverage your reporting AND non-reporting experience when applying to jobs so that you're not pegged only in entry-level ones.
I'm a mid-career journalist who's been craving a sincere form of mentorship but, because of the culture-train that I started with when I first began in the industry I feel like I'm being a burden to someone who as a female may feel like I'm encroaching on their hard earned talent/achievements by asking for a little of their time and help. How do I overcome this without coming off as too brash when seeking mentorship from someone
Hello, thank you for doing this! My question is related to setting a foundation with potential mentors. I'll be graduating in May, so I've had several informational interviews with people I admire who are doing work I'd love to do someday. I've found it's fairly easy to get these calls set up since people generally want to help students, but I struggle with what to do after the call. I always send a thank you note afterward and include some of the things I enjoyed from our conversation, but after that, I'm not sure how to follow up. I also sometimes wonder if it's too late to reach back out to someone if our call was a long time ago. In short, how do I keep building a genuine relationship with potential mentors after the initial conversation?
Hi! I'm an entry-level journalist (I graduated in December) and really don't what I'm doing with my life professionally yet. Is it okay to seek out a mentor even if I'm not technically active in the journalism field? I'm just thinking that conversations would be more about how to get started, how to actively maintain a portfolio, etc. and I don't anyone to feel like I'm wasting their time.
Hi Mandy! this platform is amazing, thank you for building it. As I go back to work (I had to quit due to COVID/kids) I'm finding myself at a place where I'm not sure how to apply for jobs. Every opening I see asks for a portfolio. My last job was at CNN and nothing belongs to me, or I don't have a way to get it, so I find myself looking for entry-level jobs. Can you advise who to talk to? or what to do? THANKS
A big thing for me as a POC journalist is finding a mentor who has been able to navigate the industry, and share how their lived experience has helped but also made journalism challenging for them. In Canada, to succeed in journalism often comes with a lot of privilege. You have to leave your hometown, move to a small city and actually be able to afford to take on low wage jobs/free internships. Many people aren't able to do that. Representation is such a big thing for me...having a mentor who looks like me but also can provide wisdom goes such a long way.
I'm an early-career science journalist. A lot of things happened this past year and I couldn't find a job in US so I had to move back home to India. But, I still want to pursue a career in US and I don't know how to go about it. I believe it'll be harder to break into the field since I'm out of the country but I also believe I need more experience. Right now, there aren't a lot of science writing jobs here in India so I've decided to freelance and build my own brand. And even there, I'm anxious about freelancing.
Is it hard to break into the US journalism industry if you're outside? What experiences do people expect for a full-time writer? If I freelance, how do I stay accountable?
Thanks for doing this all! Y'all are awesome and love the work you do. I have a question as a relatively new mentor as it relates to mentor searches that I hope you can help with. I've been kind of thrust into the mentor role during the pandemic, through my own newsletter, and due to the recognizable name of the company I work for (Spotify) on LinkedIn and my alumni networks. I've found that for the most part, mentees are gracious and thankful with wonderful questions via my newsletter.
However, I've come across a few on LinkedIn and my own alumni networks (NYU, USC) that contact me for mentorship and set up a call, but it soon becomes clear that they didn't want mentorship at all; they expect a job referral after one conversation. I've found this to be a bit rude, but I also understand that the job market, plainly, sucks right now, so people are trying everything they can.
On my side, Spotify's referral system isn't like other places (just putting in the name of someone you heard about the job from); it expects that you know all of your referrals really well and asks you questions detailed about your working/personal relationship with them, which is why I naturally prefer to only refer people I've worked with before.
I just wanted to ask you all: I still want to serve as a mentor and I'm happy to do so, but is this a common expectation that you find among mentees? How do you weed out those who are just after a job referral vs. those who want a true mentor? And how can I properly communicate this in someone's mentor search that I'm willing to be a mentor but I'm uncomfortable referring them to a job until I get to know them better/serve as their mentor for a while? I have a note in my LinkedIn bio about it, but I still get messages all the time asking for referrals. Thanks for reading and considering this accidentally long question.
Like Mags here, I've been craving mentorship since I started. I came to the US in 2016 and started my career there so I had to figure out a lot of things on my own, without any prior professional network. I guess having a mentor would be good to evaluate your career choices and to know when you're making a mistake/taking a step back or not; and for people like me who haven't had the most traditional early-career path in journalism, how to leverage your reporting AND non-reporting experience when applying to jobs so that you're not pegged only in entry-level ones.
I'm a mid-career journalist who's been craving a sincere form of mentorship but, because of the culture-train that I started with when I first began in the industry I feel like I'm being a burden to someone who as a female may feel like I'm encroaching on their hard earned talent/achievements by asking for a little of their time and help. How do I overcome this without coming off as too brash when seeking mentorship from someone
Hello, thank you for doing this! My question is related to setting a foundation with potential mentors. I'll be graduating in May, so I've had several informational interviews with people I admire who are doing work I'd love to do someday. I've found it's fairly easy to get these calls set up since people generally want to help students, but I struggle with what to do after the call. I always send a thank you note afterward and include some of the things I enjoyed from our conversation, but after that, I'm not sure how to follow up. I also sometimes wonder if it's too late to reach back out to someone if our call was a long time ago. In short, how do I keep building a genuine relationship with potential mentors after the initial conversation?
Hi! I'm an entry-level journalist (I graduated in December) and really don't what I'm doing with my life professionally yet. Is it okay to seek out a mentor even if I'm not technically active in the journalism field? I'm just thinking that conversations would be more about how to get started, how to actively maintain a portfolio, etc. and I don't anyone to feel like I'm wasting their time.
Hi Mandy! this platform is amazing, thank you for building it. As I go back to work (I had to quit due to COVID/kids) I'm finding myself at a place where I'm not sure how to apply for jobs. Every opening I see asks for a portfolio. My last job was at CNN and nothing belongs to me, or I don't have a way to get it, so I find myself looking for entry-level jobs. Can you advise who to talk to? or what to do? THANKS
A big thing for me as a POC journalist is finding a mentor who has been able to navigate the industry, and share how their lived experience has helped but also made journalism challenging for them. In Canada, to succeed in journalism often comes with a lot of privilege. You have to leave your hometown, move to a small city and actually be able to afford to take on low wage jobs/free internships. Many people aren't able to do that. Representation is such a big thing for me...having a mentor who looks like me but also can provide wisdom goes such a long way.
Hello! Thank you so much for this Mandy!
I'm an early-career science journalist. A lot of things happened this past year and I couldn't find a job in US so I had to move back home to India. But, I still want to pursue a career in US and I don't know how to go about it. I believe it'll be harder to break into the field since I'm out of the country but I also believe I need more experience. Right now, there aren't a lot of science writing jobs here in India so I've decided to freelance and build my own brand. And even there, I'm anxious about freelancing.
Is it hard to break into the US journalism industry if you're outside? What experiences do people expect for a full-time writer? If I freelance, how do I stay accountable?