However, could I call them my mentors as well? I certainly did. Some of them have even been my champions, advocating for me in rooms that I could not personally be in. Even so, a reporting relationship can be complex, delicate, and layered with power distance. Even the best of us might wonder how much we can really share with someone who has a direct impact on our performance evaluation and bonuses. In those situations, the guidance of a mentor outside of the organisation might have been comforting.

This is where the process gets hazy: how does one find a suitable mentor, and what does an aspiring mentee need to do? Most importantly, does mentorship even work, or is it just glorified networking?

Mentorship as a Concept

Sometimes described almost as an all-purpose balm, a mentor in a professional context is typically understood as someone with more experience, and generally, sager. Having walked a path before us, they can provide us with insights, direction and clarity that might otherwise take decades to gain. Not to conflate experience with age – a mentor can also be someone biologically younger than we are.¹

As a current student in the National University of Singapore (NUS) Master of Communication (formerly known as Master of Social Sciences (Communication)) programme, I read with great interest that the programme offered a mentorship component, where we could be matched with senior industry leaders who would advise us on our professional goals. Leaders would be thoroughly vetted, and an academic coordinator would search for suitable mentors to match us with. The structure, rigour of mentor vetting, and the relief at not having to navigate a sea of potential mentors myself, piqued my curiosity. So, I applied.

Finding “the One”

This next question is a little less overwhelming than if I were choosing my life partner, but still rings true: even if I get matched, how do I really know that my mentor is “the one”? As with all important questions, I would like to think that the search starts with introspection on what I am trying to achieve. For me, it took a quiet afternoon of freewheeling writing, and watching my career spill out onto paper. That enabled me to identify broad themes in my experience and gain clarity on growth areas I would like a mentor to guide me on. Finding “the one” first requires gleaning a sense of oneself and what one stands for.

With this knowledge, our academic coordinator eventually matched me with a mentor whom I have been able to openly discuss my dreams and worries with. The process gave rise to new insights, offered me unbridled feedback and most importantly, a safe environment and the knowledge that I was not alone. Surely, I could have done this with a trusted friend or loved one too, but remember: the views of our loved ones can sometimes come with preconceived notions about who we used to be, instead of what we are hoping to be. This is not always a true indicator of what else one may go on to achieve, which a third-party mentor might just offer a refreshing perspective on.

^{From left to right: Ms Nicole Ong, Mentor from the MOC Mentorship Programme and Ms Bell Yeo, Author}