How to Find a Mentor for Career Preparation

October 31, 2025 byConnections Academy

7 min to read

An educational mentor is helping a high school student with a science project

Real-world mentors step in at critical times in a student’s academic journey to share their experience and insights, prepare them for college or professional careers, and build their confidence and self-motivation. Mentors are trusted advisors who encourage students to take ownership of their learning and personal growth, set goals, create action plans, and use feedback to make adjustments.

What Is a Professional Mentor’s Value in Career Preparation?

A hallmark of an effective mentor is the ability to introduce students to professional networks that can cultivate and advance their career ambitions. Career mentoring is meant to help students:

Find internships and apprenticeships. Some professional mentors can facilitate internships, apprenticeships, or job shadowing opportunities in the student’s future career path to give students direct exposure to a workplace.

Discover unknown career paths. The job market is filled with careers that students and even school counselors may have never heard of. A professional mentor is often able to use their knowledge and experience to offer suggestions within the same industry that the student may have never considered before.

Build a professional network. Career mentoring can sometimes lead to connections with other professionals in their student’s future career field, introducing them to potential employers or collaborators.

Learn about new technology and improve relevant skills. Almost every industry relies on technology and uses it in its own way. Mentors can often suggest programs, platforms, and tools students should become familiar with as they explore careers and build their marketable skillsets.

Gain industry insights. Based on their own experience, mentors can provide realistic insights into an industry, including specific roles, day-to-day responsibilities, and future outlooks to help students better understand where they may be able to best learn and grow.

Online students working through a project with their mentor.

Where to Find Your Career Mentor as an Online Student

There’s no one tried and true route to finding a mentor, but there are several ways to search for one.

Reach out to experts in a field you’re interested in through email, a phone call, or by checking the company’s website for upcoming opportunities. Ask if someone would be willing to help you learn more about the industry or specific position. Make it clear what kind of information or opportunity you’re interested in and if you are looking for online or in-person mentorship.
Ask teachers or counselors if they have connections to potential mentors. Just like teachers, coaches, and school counselors working at brick-and-mortar schools, online schools like Connections Academy also have networks of professionals in numerous industries that could help students find the right mentors for them and their career goals.
Find a mentor in the workplace. Students taking part in internships or holding part-time jobs may find a career mentor while working or volunteering in their community. Even if someone does not work within the industry the student is looking to pursue, workplace mentors can still help students learn important career soft skills like time management, problem-solving, and accountability.

4 Signs You Have Found the Right Career Mentor

How does a student know when they’ve found the right career mentor? While each person has different needs when it comes to finding the right career mentor for them, there are some common qualities they will have that will help students see the full benefits of mentoring for career prep.

1. The mentor works in your field of interest or an adjacent one.

To get the most out of the mentorship, students will want to make sure they are getting advice from someone who has practical experience in their field.

2. The mentor introduces you to their professional network.

Mentorships are not just about learning from someone else’s experience but also making connections. The ideal mentor should know people still actively working in the industry who could help you find more learning opportunities or help you find work in the future.

3. They have the right skills, knowledge, and experience.

While it can be tempting to accept the first person who agrees to be your professional mentor, you should first make sure they are not too new to the industry, that they actively use the skills you’re hoping to learn, and that they are up-to-date with current industry standards.

4. They know how to answer your questions and challenge your assumptions.

Just because a person is knowledgeable and has experience in an industry does not necessarily mean they will be a good career mentor. The right mentor will have the patience to answer your questions and the wisdom to challenge your misconceptions about their work in a constructive way without being discouraging.

How to Approach and Work with Your Career Mentor

Once you’ve found a list of potential career mentors, you should learn some of the unspoken rules of mentor/mentee etiquette to maximize the relationship and keep it professional.

Reach out to a Mentor Professionally

You can reach out to your potential mentor via email, phone, or in person, but whatever the method, be prepared with a brief introduction of yourself and a few questions you would like to ask them about their career. If you can, it may be helpful to suggest a time frame for when you would like to speak with them and also for how long you would like to speak with them. You don’t need to ask them to be a mentor right away. First, make sure they are the right fit for you.

Example:

“My name is _____, and I am a senior at _____ high school. I am interested in a career in your field, and I was wondering if you would have an hour at the end of the month to answer a few questions I have about what it is like to work in the ______ industry.”

Don’t pressure them to give an answer right away; instead, leave them with a way to contact you. If you haven’t heard anything back within a week or two, you can reach out again with a brief note as a follow up. If the person appears to be the right fit, and if they are welcome to speak to you more, you can then ask them more formally to be your mentor.

Set Goals for Your Mentorship

Your mentor is already devoting their time to help you, so it’s important to respect their time and yours by having clearly established goals for your mentorship. Before each meeting with your mentor, prepare a list of goals that you would like to achieve by the end of the mentorship, as well as questions for them about their job role and the industry they work in. By discussing your ultimate dreams for the mentorship and being open to any feedback they may give, you can work with them to create a specific plan to keep the time you spend together focused and productive.

How to Show Appreciation to Your Mentor

Once your mentorship comes to an end, be sure to thank your mentor for the time they took to answer your questions and for sharing their experience with you. While mentorships are typically done without the expectation of getting anything in return, it can be a nice gesture to send your mentor a thank-you note or email outlining your appreciation of them and highlighting the skills that you have learned and how you have or will take them with you into your next steps. You can also share with them any personal wins that you have achieved due to their help. This note can also help keep communication open while you build your own career network.

Pursue Your Career Goals with Online School

As you discover more about the benefits of mentoring for career growth, you may also want to ensure your high school is setting you up for future career success. Online schools such as Connections Academy have a College and Career Readiness program that can help connect you with apprenticeships, internships, digital certifications, and more to help you not only discover the career that is right for you but also get a head start before graduation.

With the flexibility of online schools, you and your family can adjust learning around a schedule that works best for you by having time during the day to meet with mentors, volunteer in your community, follow your personal goals, attend career conferences, or anything in between.

Learn more about the benefits of online school by downloading our free eGuide and speaking with an enrollment specialist.