Ask A Data Mentor: Daunting Task of Finding Mentorship
Mentorship and growth can come in many forms.
It is time for another episode, or should I say episodes(!) on the Ask A Data Mentor podcast!
This afternoon, I had an insightful conversation with one of my mentors about mentorship, and the lack thereof in the data field. I have recently found myself in the position of becoming a mentor and it is a difficult task. How far is too far help? How much is not enough? Those are the type of questions that throttle my mind.
As the data world continues to evolve, finding the right mentor can be a daunting task, especially when data teams are often small and resources are limited. We can however find them in more ways than one, and that is what I want to address today.
So, how do we get mentorship?
Honestly, it is not what I usually get in my direct messages. Do not get me wrong. I love getting messages about how I help folks with their data career or how I can further improve my content to help more folks.
But getting messages like these: “Please mentor me.” These messages are difficult for me to answer because although I want to help, the truth is that I cannot do so effectively without first building a foundation. Mentorship requires a level of trust, vulnerability, and openness that can only be achieved through a series of difficult conversations, and it is often hard to accept criticism or feedback from someone you barely know. The first step of a successful mentorship is to establish a rapport with the person who asks for help.
How did you find your mentor then, Sarah?
I have found mentorship in all sorts of places as I have been a team of less than 2 for most of my career, but I found this particular mentor through work. We were building data infrastructure together—two passionate engineers with something in common. Our shared interest in data led to many conversations where we would discuss different approaches to solving problems, new technologies on the horizon, and industry trends. As we continued to collaborate, my mentor began to share more about their past experiences and how they had navigated their career. They gave me valuable advice on how to approach difficult challenges and provided me with opportunities to grow.
Ideally, things would happen this way. However, I acknowledge that this is likely an exception rather than the norm. So what can a person do? Of course! Ask others how they have found mentors in their own journey.
That’s not how they did it though.
And in my recent conversations with Li Yin and Jess Ramos, I found some interesting ways in which they found mentorship.
Jess Ramos is a Senior Data Analyst at Crunchbase and a LinkedIn Instructor. Jess Ramos found one of her mentors through a job offer in her first job search in 2022. She had two job offers, and she found that she liked one of the job offers more than the others.
Instead of ignoring the second job offer, she emailed her back and explained why she decided to take the other company’s offer in an email. The hiring manager replied and asked to meet monthly afterward. Ramos was surprised and agreed, so that’s how she formed one of her mentorship. If you are currently interviewing or are planning to interview, Ramos suggests to keep those relationships open. You never know where they might lead.
How is that for getting mentorship?
Listen to the rest of Jess Ramos’ episode here.
As I mentioned earlier, we often struggle with finding mentorships and sometimes things just do not work out. For those situations, there are other ways you can find mentorship then through people. When I asked Li Yin, the founder of SylphAI, about how she got mentorships, she thought about it for a minute. Then, she proceeded to answer that she “did not have many 1:1 mentorships.” These are the type of relationships Ramos and I were fortunate to have. Instead, she focused on “[learning] a lot of things by doing and reading books”.
If you currently are having a difficult time finding mentorship, books might be a valuable alternative at this point of time. When I asked her which books have impacted her the most, she listed these 3 books:
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Li Yin's approach to finding mentorship through reading books and Jess Ramos story about finding one through interviewing are great reminders that mentorship can come in many forms. Whenever an opportunity presents itself, accept it and see where it might lead you.
Li Yin’s full interview will be released later this week. Subscribe to the podcast to be the first to know when it is available.
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Final Thoughts
While having a human mentor is invaluable, it is not the only way to learn and grow. Reading books, attending conferences, and participating in online communities can all provide valuable insights and guidance. The most important thing is to stay curious and open to new opportunities for learning and growth.