The right mentor can change your career. Here’s how to find them

In your first job, you can feel like a fish out of water. Confused, lost, and unsure of how to proceed. You don't have any connections or networks yet. You've just got a foot in the door. At this juncture, finding a mentor can dramatically change your career trajectory.Research suggests that just having a mentor can improve your performance at work and having a strong relationship with a mentor can directly result in promotions and raises. The truth is nobody wants more mentees. But you still have to find one to succeed at work.You often feel like you’re making this grand request from someone who is probably way more busy or has way more things on their plate. And reaching out to someone you admire — especially if that person is more senior than you — can be super intimidating. So, how do you find a mentor to best help you and your career? Host Akshaya Chandrasekaran talks to people who’ve benefited from healthy mentoring relationships, those who’ve been mentors and mentees, to find out the steps it takes to begin your mentor hunt. On this episode you’ll hear about what makes a good mentor, how to establish the right dynamics with your mentor, and how to nurture the relationship. This is our fourth episode in season 1, let us know what you think? You can write to Akshaya, the host, at [email protected]. Have a career question you want us to cover? Tell us. This episode was written and hosted by Akshaya Chandrasekaran, and produced by Anushka Mukherjee, with audio engineering by Rajiv CN. The First Two Years is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive business stories, deeply-reported newsletters, and a whole lot of stuff.