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mentoring
TEXT BY ELLEN LUPTON AND LESLIE XIA
Typically, we think of a mentor as an older person helping out a younger person. Your mentor could be a boss, a teacher, a school-appointed career counselor, a respected person in the community, or a relative with knowledge of your field. Guidance from your instructor or supervisor may be part of their job description, but most mentorships are more informal, flowering when both parties find a natural fit.
Mentoring doesn’t require a top-down power imbalance to be worthwhile. Two people close in age and experience can be great mentors for each other. Peers may have distinct skills and knowledge to trade—or just have the time and patience to listen. An older person with an open mind can learn a whole lot from a younger one.
The most productive mentorships are valuable to both parties. Meeting with a professional who is higher up on the food chain can yield useful advice and vital networking contacts. However, top-down relationships are often tough to maintain over time. Talking with peers can be more rewarding and sustainable in the long run.
Once upon a time...
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Imagine Yajing, a junior designer at Mid Co., a midsize design studio in a midsize city. Her one-year contract is coming to an end, and she wants help planning her next career move.
Yajing reaches out to Fernanda, a well- known creative director at a big agency. They meet for coffee. Fernanda tells Yajing to cut some weaker projects from her portfolio and to create more digital work. She suggests some companies that could be a good fit for Yajing. The conversation
is friendly but formal. Two weeks later, Yajing wants to ask Fernanda to look at her portfolio again but decides not to. It feels like too much to ask.
Meanwhile, Yajing enjoys working with Frankie, a UX designer at Mid Co. They get coffee. Frankie has a permanent position and thus has more job stability than Yajing but is frustrated about always creating wire frames for websites without getting
a chance to explore visual design. Yajing and Frankie decide to collaborate on an outside gig—a freelance website for a local theater group. The project helps Frank-
ie build their visual skills while boosting Yajing’s digital confidence. A few months later, Yajing lands a new job (thanks to a tip from Fernanda), and Frankie gets a pro- motion. Yajing and Frankie continue being friends and peer mentors.