My Career Mentor Checklist

CAREER COMPADRES SERIES

By Murray A. Mann and Rose Mary Bombela-Tobias
Co-authors, Barron's The Complete Job Search Guide for Latinos
www.JobSearchGuideforLatinos.com

For the iHispano Career Compadres Series we developed the following checklist to review yourself as a mentee. We thank our colleague Larry Uribe, a founder of the Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement, for his input.

Mentors

My Career Mentor Board of Directors includes:

• Formal and informal mentors
• Hispanics and Non Hispanics
• Males and females
• Leaders in my company and industry.
• Experts from cross-functional segments in my organization.
• Peers with specialized skills and experiences.
• Individuals, company based organizations, and external professional associations.
• Formal company mentorship programs.
• Industry peers from outside my company.
• Knowledge experts.

Purpose

• Finding mentors/being a responsible mentee is one of the most important growth steps I can take.
• This specific mentoring relationship is a high priority for me.
• I've been clear with my mentor on why I want to meet with him/her.
• I've proposed one or more goals to work on with the help of my mentor.
• I'll recognize when I've reached my goal(s).
• I feel good about the focus of this relationship and what I'm doing in it.
• This relationship is a good use of my time.
• From time to time I check in to see if we should change our focus in some way.
• Once I've accomplished my goal(s), I'm willing to see the relationship shift focus or perhaps end for the time being.

Communication

• I communicate in the ways (in person, phone, email, mail) we agreed.
• I get back to my mentor in the timeframe we agreed.
• I don't communicate more often than we agreed unless it's a special circumstance.
• I'm an effective listener and remember what my mentor tells me.
• I ask appropriate questions.
• I share adequate information about myself.
• I monitor my nonverbal language to be sure it's conveying what I want it to.
• I invite my mentor to give me suggestions for how I can communicate better.
• I try out my mentor's suggestions on communication as soon as possible.

Trust

• I've talked about the topics of trust and confidentiality with my mentor.
• I'm beginning to trust my mentor more and more.
• I'm becoming less guarded than when we first got together.
• I share important information about myself with my mentor.
• My mentor seems to trust me more and more.
• I welcome and keep in confidence the information he/she shares with me.
• My mentor can count on me to be honest.
• He/She can count on me to follow through on my promises.
• I avoid any trust-breaking behaviors such as canceling appointments without compelling reasons, talking negatively about others, or making excuses if I don't follow through.
• I'm willing to forgive some mistakes my mentor makes because my trust in him/her is strong.

Process

• I take responsibility for scheduling our meetings.
• I like all or most of our meeting locations.
• I've checked to be sure my mentor likes our meeting locations.
• I like the length of our meetings.
• I've checked to be sure my mentor likes the length of our meetings.
• I'm satisfied with the way we conduct our meetings.
• I've checked to be sure my mentor is satisfied with how we conduct our meetings.
• I've checked to see if my mentor likes the style and frequency of our communications.

Progress

• I'm working on one or more measurable goals with the help of my mentor.
• I make it easy for my mentor to help me develop.
• I take the lead on identifying interesting learning experiences I can try.
• I welcome my mentor's suggestions of learning experiences for me.
• I do at least one learning activity in between our mentoring meetings.
• I report the results of my learning to my mentor.
• I've made significant progress toward my goal(s) since starting to meet with my mentor.
• I'm making notable progress in my ability to be mentored.
• My mentor knows and is satisfied with my progress.
• I celebrate my progress.

Feedback

• I have discussed with my mentor how and how often I want positive feedback.
• I receive the right amount of positive feedback from my mentor.
• I discussed my mentor the way I'd like to receive constructive feedback.
• I continue to ask my mentor for constructive feedback.
• When I receive positive feedback, I express my thanks.
• When I receive positive feedback, I use the information to reinforce my efforts.
• When I receive constructive feedback, I'm usually non-defensive.
• When I receive constructive feedback, I take immediate steps to apply it.
• I remember to give my mentor positive feedback about his/her mentoring and other things.
• (If agreed upon) I give my mentor suggestions for improvement.