MENTORING: An intervention for success in professional life

"Mentoring" as an intervention can help new recruits and interns to understand the JOB well and reduce the frustration and confusion that they have to go through during the first few weeks of joining a new organisation.

A person can not have too many mentors. As a student, one might have several formal and informal mentors at the same time.

Mentoring, therefore, is a relationship rather than an activity. The relationship between the mentor and learner is unique, since mentoring is a protected relationship in which learning and experimentation can occur, potential skills can be developed, and results can be measured in terms of competencies gained rather than in curriculum covered.

What is a MENTOR?

The word "mentor" has its origin thousands of years ago in Greek mythology, in the tale of Odysseus. When Odysseus was away from home for many years, he encouraged and entrusted his son, Telemachus, to his friend and advisor, Mentor. When Odysseus was gone, Mentor served as guardian, teacher and father figure to his young protege.

In modern-day terms, mentors are influential people who significantly help one reach one's major life goals. They have the power -- through who or what they know -- to promote one's welfare, training, or career.

Mentors, according to Webster, are:

A wise, loyal adviser

A teacher or coach


What Do Mentors Do?


Mentors help students in several ways. Mentors give advice and constructive feedback of the student's actions and products, formal and informal instruction (on organizational politics as well as on more technical information), introductions to people who can help, and opportunities for students to demonstrate their skills.

During the mentoring relationship, the mentor is a major source of information as students look to "Bridge the Gap" from the academic world to the world of work.


What Are The Benefits Of A Mentoring Program?


Students have opportunities to observe and interact with experts: receive encouragement; acquire knowledge and numerous professional skills; save time by learning shortcuts and strategies that are normally learned by trial and error; ask specific questions and get one- on- one feedback on their planned careers; gain important personal contacts and other resources; and make a smoother bridge to adulthood and maturity.

Mentors have opportunities to: increase their mentoring skills, which they can use in numerous areas of their lives; learn new technical knowledge and skills; indirectly "pay back" their own mentors for help received; increase their professional network as they interact with other mentors, students, guests, managers, and others; and gain tremendous satisfaction from contributing to the development of capable individuals.

Understand the question well to answer better: Few interview questions

During my own preparation for job interviews while I was studying management, I listed down various questions that are generally asked in interviews to assess an individual's competencies (skills, knowledge, attitude) for the desired position.

Then while working for corporates in Competency development area, I began to understand these questions better and you can only answer well if you know the question well..

The following are a few questions generally asked in the Interviews to understand the level of competency possessed by the individual in the respective area (sub-heads). Interviewees tend to misunderstand the question and end up with a irrelevant answer.

The following set of questions shall be of help to those who might know all the answers about their skills and abilities but might not be sure of which question to attribute them to during the interview. Please read them and make notes of your best answers to them..

CORE COMPETENCIES

Adaptability

• Tell me about a time when you changed your priorities to meet others' expectations?
• Describe a time when you altered your own behaviour to fit the situation?
• Tell me about a time when you had to change your point of view or your plans to take into account new information or changing priorities?

Client Focus

• Give an example of how you provided service to a client/stakeholder beyond their expectations. How did you identify the need? How did you respond?
• Tell me about a time when you had to deal with a client/stakeholder service issue?
• Describe a situation in which you acted as an advocate within your organization for your stakeholder’s needs, where there was some organizational resistance to be overcome?

Communication

• Describe a situation you were involved in that required a multi-dimensional communication strategy?
• Give an example of a difficult or sensitive situation that required extensive communication?
• Tell me about a time when you really had to pay attention to what someone else was saying, actively seeking to understand their message?

Organizational Awareness

• Describe the culture of your organization and give an example of how you work within this culture to achieve a goal?
• Describe the things you consider and the steps you take in assessing the viability of a new idea or initiative?
• Tell me about a time when you used your knowledge of the organization to get what you needed?

Problem Solving and Judgment

• Tell me about a time when you had to identify the underlying causes to a problem?
• Describe a time when you had to analyze a problem and generate a solution?
• Tell me about a situation where you had to solve a problem or make a decision that required careful thought. What did you do?

Results Orientation

• Tell me about a time when you set and achieved a goal?
• Tell me about a time when you improved the way things were typically done on the job?
• Describe something you have done to improve the performance of your work unit?
• Describe something you have done to maximize or improve the use of resources beyond your own work unit to achieve improved results?

Teamwork

• Tell me about a time when you worked successfully as a member of a team?
• Describe a situation where you were successful in getting people to work together effectively?
• Describe a situation in which you were a member (not a leader) of a team, and a conflict arose within the team. What did you do?

ROLE SPECIFIC COMPETENCIES

Developing Others

• Tell me about a time when you coached someone to help them improve their skills or job performance. What did you do?
• Describe a time when you provided feedback to someone about their performance?
• Give me an example of a time when you recognized that a member of your team had a performance difficulty/deficiency. What did you do?

Impact and Influence

• Describe a recent situation in which you convinced an individual or a group to do something?
• Describe a time when you went through a series of steps to influence an individual or a group on an important issue?
• Describe a situation in which you needed to influence different stakeholders with differing perspectives?

Innovation

• Describe something you have done that was new and different for your organization, that improved performance and/or productivity?
• Tell me about a time when you identified a new, unusual or different approach for addressing a problem or task?
• Tell me about a recent problem in which old solutions wouldn't work. How did you solve the problem?

Leadership

• Tell me about a time when you had to lead a group to achieve an objective?
• Describe a situation where you had to ensure that your "actions spoke louder than your words" to a team?
• Describe a situation where you inspired others to meet a common goal?

Relationship Building

• Describe a situation in which you developed an effective win/win relationship with a stakeholder or client. How did you go about building the relationship?
• Tell me about a time when you relied on a contact in your network to help you with a work-related task or problem?
• Give me an example of a time when you deliberately attempted to build rapport with a co-worker or customer?

Resource Management

• Describe a situation in which you took a creative approach to resourcing to achieve a goal?
• Tell me about a time when you had to deal with a particular resource management issue regarding either people, materials or assets?
• Describe the options you would consider to resource a project or goal if you did not have the available resources within your own span of control?
• Describe a situation in which you established a partnership with another organization or stakeholder to achieve a mutual goal. What steps did you take to ensure the partnership was effective?

Self-Management

• Describe the level of stress in your job and what you do to manage it?
• Describe a time when you were in a high pressure situation?
• Describe a time when things didn't turn out as you had planned and you had to analyze the situation to address the issue?

Strategic Thinking

• Describe a challenge or opportunity you identified based on your industry knowledge, and how you developed a strategy to respond to it?
• Describe a time you created a strategy to achieve a longer term business objective
• Describe a time when you used your business knowledge to understand a specific business situation?

The questions actually asked must be different from the above, however the intent shall be the same.

INTERVIEW QUESTION

"Tell Me Something About Yourself?"

"Tell me about yourself" is a question that most interviewees expect and it is the most difficult to answer as well. Though one could answer this open- ended question in a myriad of ways, the key to answering this question or any other interview question is to offer a response that supports your career objective. This means that you shouldn't respond with comments about your hobbies, spouse, or extra curricular activities. Trust me, interviewers aren't interested. To start with there is no correct answer to this interview question. I would lean in the favor of a quick reference to some personal traits that give a quick-view of who you are. From there one could move to a one sentence of any relevant education/qualification. There should also be a mention of employment history.

Purpose of the Question:
There always is a purpose of asking each and every question in the interview. One cannot ask anything and everything. Again, set of interview questions varies from industry to industry and position to position. Interviewers use the interview process as a vehicle to eliminate your candidacy. Every question they ask is used to differentiate your skills, experience, and personality with that of other candidates. They want to determine if what you have to offer will mesh with the organization's mission and goals.

What type of answer is Expected???
Try to avoid this type of answer: “I am a hard-worker who is good with numbers. After I worked as a financial analyst for a few years, I decided to go to law school. I just finished and now am looking for a new challenge.”

Speak something like this: “I began developing skills relevant to financial planning when I worked as a financial analyst for three years. In that role, I succeeded in multiplying the wealth of my clients by carefully analyzing the market for trends. The return on the portfolios I managed was generally 2% more than most of the portfolios managed by my company. My initiative, planning, and analytic skills were rewarded by two promotions. As the manager of a team, I successfully led them to develop a more efficient and profitable strategy for dealing with new accounts. My subsequent training in the law, including tax law and estate law, gives me an informed view of what types of investments and charitable gifts would be most advantageous for your clients.”

This way you discussed everything about your abilities without leaving the interviewer wanting to know more since by now he might have had an idea about your clarity about your own self and how well you know that you are suitable for the position.

Preparing for the Answer:
Follow the following steps as outlined below to ensure your response will grab the interviewer attention.

1. Provide a brief introduction. Introduce attributes that are key to the open position.
2. Provide a career summary of your most recent work history. Your career summary is the "meat" of your response, so it must support your job objective and it must be compelling. Keep your response limited to your current experience. Don't go back more than 10 years.
3. Tie your response to the needs of the hiring organization. Don't assume that the interviewer will be able to connect all the dots. It is your job as the interviewee to make sure the interviewer understands how your experiences are transferable to the position they are seeking to fill.
4. Ask an insightful question. By asking a question you gain control of the interview. Don't ask a question for the sake of asking. Be sure that the question will engage the interviewer in a conversation. Doing so will alleviate the stress you may feel to perform.

There you have it - a response that meets the needs of the interviewer AND supports your agenda.

When broken down into manageable pieces, the question, "So, tell me about yourself?" isn't overwhelming. In fact, answering the question effectively gives you the opportunity to talk about your strengths, achievements, and qualifications for the position. So take this golden opportunity and run with it!

When Asked by Different People?
HR manager or CEO of the company or the Departmental Head can ask the same question and your answer should vary. The expectation of each such person is different.
When asked by HR Manager your response must be like this: "My career has been characterized by my ability to work well with diverse teams. I seek out opportunities to involve others in the decision-making process. This collaboration and communication is what has enabled me to achieve success in my department. People are the most valuable resource of any organization."
When asked by CEO your response must be like this: "I have achieved success in my career because I have been focused on the bottom line. I have always sought out innovative solutions to challenging problems to maximize profitability. Regardless of the task or challenge, I always established benchmarks of performance and standards of excellence. I have never sought to maintain the "status quo." An organization that does not change and grow will die. I would enjoy working with you to help define new market opportunities in order to achieve the organization's goals."

In each instance, we responded to the "needs of the individual." It is almost guaranteed that, when you respond appropriately to the diverse needs of the different managers, you will become the standard by which all of the other candidates will be measured.

Conclusion:
The question is very tricky and being the first question of the interview…one need to be a bit more careful in answering the same. This question can make or break the interviewer’s interest in you.