99U: Mentors provide the knowledge we are missing, open doors to new connections, and impart philosophies we otherwise would have had to wait years to learn. Companies don’t invest in that model anymore; mentorships aren’t built into entry-level jobs, or even internships. Which is why almost every job listing these days requires the applicant to “take initiative.” It really means, “I don’t want to have to hold your hand,” which in itself means, “I don’t have the time/energy available to teach you.”
3 comments:
I think that this article is so not true. Mentorship is very much alive. When the sophomores declare their major it is a very big deal who they elect to advise and mentor them for the rest of their education here at Carnegie Mellon. There are many factors that go into selecting who they want to be their advisor to be. I have friends that have selected their mentors based off of what industry connections and networks that they would be exposed to by being a mentee to. Others I know have made this decision based off of how long that faculty member has been here, and their knowledge of the program requirements. One school of thought is not any better than the other. Where mentorship tends to go south is that the mentee selecting the mentor doesn’t know enough about them and picks the wrong mentor. My response to this, just like many other comments I have made, is make sure you are educated before you pick!
Mentors are not gone but I do agree that there is much less of the "master teaches the apprentice" anymore. Our generation tends to use both a collection of people in their life as well as the Internet in order to learn how to function in the real world. I for one have learned a lot from my Dad. Even though I do not want to become an advertiser, I still use the skills I learned while working with him and helping him in his ventures. Not all mentors have a mindset to pass on their legacy to you, sometimes a mentor is a person who just wants you to succeed in whatever you do. Here at Carnegie Mellon I don't owe it all to one person due to the fact that there is no one person who can teach me very thing I want to know. In our society, like the article said, we are required to function in a way that makes us learn various tasks. We can no longer be a conveyer belt of a workforce, we can no longer do just one job. With so much to think about we can't just think that knowing one lesson or one craft will set us up for life. We are required to take the best skills from every place we go throughout life and constantly innovate the way we do things. If we don't what sets us apart? What makes us grow and improve into the future? Who I am and the work I create is a collection of the best skills and advice I've learned from other people throughout my life. We are therefore a collection of our best and worst mentors whether we want to be or not.
Mentors are not gone but the “rules” for mentorship have changed and updated. There will always be someone that is more experienced in your field that you strive to be like. They have usually been in the field a lot longer and have a lot more hands on experience and wisdom to pass down to you. Though those people may be more experienced in some areas, younger people are sometimes more knowledgeable in other areas. We have grown up with a new age of technology, which has helped the younger generation become more proficient in certain tasks related to technology. There is a good chance that the mentee is able to teach their mentor a few new tricks that can help them do something more efficient or in a different way. Just because they are able to teach their mentor something, does not mean that they are above their mentor and know more in other areas. People are still able to have mentors and people to look up to in their field and also help them learn new things in return.
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