The email header from the MRS caught my eye. “Becoming a mentee is for everyone, wherever you are within your career.”

This was a couple of years ago and I was no spring chicken at the time. Let’s face it, I wasn’t even a summer chicken, so it felt a bit embarrassing to be asking for a mentor after more than 25 years working in insights. 

However, I was at a point in my career where I needed to make a change, the market was changing around me, and I had a lot of questions. Yes, you can – and should – consult your existing network when in such a situation, but the idea of having someone in an appropriate role dedicated to helping me think things through was appealing. I decided to believe the email header and apply.

The MRS mentoring team work incredibly hard to find to make sure that everyone is paired with somebody appropriate. In my case, I know that they initially found it difficult, but in the end, they struck gold. I’d asked for someone with a lot of client-side experience; the team paired me with someone on the client side who was interested in my 10 plus years’ experience of freelancing; we could mentor each other.

The mentorship programme runs for a year, during which time most pairs meet monthly, but every pair is free to make the arrangements that suit them best.

Ours was unconventional in that we decided to use the time to make a podcast together. By working together, we learned about each other’s worlds, which was the goal for both of us. On top of that, we both gained new skills and we’ve built a lasting and much valued friendship. And there’s a podcast out there in the world, too.

I’m not a mentee anymore but I am a mentor, which is something I consider to be a huge honour. Being a mentor means that someone trusts you with their worries and their vulnerabilities, their hopes and their plans. In return, you offer them what you can: your time, your experience and your support. And that support can be for anything – helping someone who is starting a business, working towards a promotion, struggling with a challenging work situation or just taking some time to invest in themselves.

Here are some reflections on mentoring, in no particular order. 

1. Sometimes, the thing that is most valuable about mentoring is that it carves out a bit of time to think, or to say the things you are thinking out loud. As a mentor, you don’t have to know all the answers (or even any of the answers), you just have to create space and time for your mentee.
   
   
2. I have struggled with imposter syndrome as a mentor: what do I really know? How can I really help this person? Being a mentor is vulnerable, too. But what is most helpful when imposter syndrome strikes, is to shift your mental focus to your mentee and ask yourself what it is they need right now. 
   
   
3. Mentees’ time is sacred.  So no, as a mentor, you can’t just shift that client meeting into that slot.
   
   
4. Once a mentee, always a mentee. Mentees get a special place in your heart.
   
   
5. Mentors learn just as much from their mentees as the other way around –  sometimes more. Sometimes a lot more.

6. What you learn is more than just useful information; whenever you take on a new role you learn about yourself and how you react and adapt.
   
   
7. Mentors and mentees have different perspectives on the same issues, often because they come from different generations, and this can be where some of the more surprising learning comes from.
   
   
8. It’s brave to ask for help and support – it’s also really smart and demonstrates that you value yourself and are invested in your future.
   
   
9. Knowing this, I wish I’d asked for a mentor earlier in my career and more often.
   
   
10. There are some talented, ambitious and impressive young people in this industry and we should all be doing everything we can to support them.

I’d recommend either side of the mentoring scheme to everyone, as the email said, wherever you are within your career. I’ll refer you back to point nine – I really wish I’d done this earlier.

So, if that email from the MRS mentorship scheme catches your eye this year, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and apply.

Judith Rose is co-founder of Explnrs

• The MRS mentoring scheme is open for applications, with a deadline of 10th June. For more information on the scheme and to apply, visit the MRS website.