A mentor can be invaluable. They can guide you toward the right career path, share their hard-won experiences with you, and give you sage advice to help you on your journey.

They may even open doors to new opportunities or jobs.

But in order to offer all these amazing benefits? They first need to be the right fit. An ill-fitting mentor won’t know what to say or where to guide you, nor will they have the experience or skills you need to learn from.

In short, the entire arrangement will waste both your time and the mentor’s. And in today’s busy world, is that really something you’re willing to risk?

Being a mentor is not an easy job. A good mentor will help you learn how to do things, but not do them for you. Being a mentor not only helps to guide mentee personal growth or professional career, but it also helps to improve the mentor performance as an executive

If you’re going to go out on a limb and work with a mentor, you need to be sure it’s the best fit possible. To do this, you should:

Know exactly what you’re looking for.

What are you looking to get out of the mentoring arrangement? Advice to get you to the top of your department? Guidance on how to better manage your work-life balance? Help bettering certain skills or bridging knowledge gaps you might have?

Sit down and make a list of exactly what your ideal mentor would have to offer you. Not every mentor will have the same skills and knowledge to pass on, so honing-in on exactly what you’re hoping to learn can help you find the perfect fit.

Understand what you can commit and what you need.

Your mentor doesn’t just need to match up on values, skills and knowledge, but they also need to have the bandwidth available to support you. So, take a beat and think: how much do you want your mentor involved?

Do you want a weekly, monthly or quarterly session? Do you want them to assign you tasks and homework you can learn from? Do you want them to follow up and circle back on items you’ve discussed?

Also, figure out how much time you can actually commit. Talk to your family, your boss and anyone else that demands your time, and see how often you could carve out time for mentoring. Knowing what you can commit, as well as what you expect your mentor to commit, can help you find the best fit possible when you’re on your search.

Evaluate the mentor.

The first sign of a “right fit” mentor is if they start the conversation by encouraging the you to make the conversations more interesting and engage you by asking questions and involve you throughout the process. The next sign, are they listening to your answer or simply sharing their knowledge? Thirdly, after the session, do you want to spend more time with your mentor?

Was a connection made with mentor? Did the meeting with mentor leave you with feeling better and more confident? These are some signs on which to measure the mentor effectiveness. If your mentor does not fulfill your requirements evaluation, then you most likely will not follow up with them. If you find all the qualities that fit your needs in your mentor, then immediately follow-up with a request for the next meeting.

Mentees can not only benefit from the mentoring, they can use the mentor’s network to grow their personal or professional goals. Mentees will have the chance to get in touch with other experts using their mentor’s network. Don’t force the relationship, Mentee/Mentor relationships grow organically over time and based on mutual respect.

Use the right tools.

You’re not going to find a great mentor on Facebook or Twitter, and unless your company has a built-in mentoring program, you probably won’t find one in the office either. Your best bets for finding a great mentor are platforms like iConnectX or LinkedIn.

On iConnectX, you can find mentors who have the skills, experience and availability you’re looking for, and for a nominal fee, set up a mentoring session instantly. It’s seamless, easy and ensures you get a mentor who’s the right fit for your needs.

Choose someone you respect and want to be like.

Finally, once you’ve got a short list of potential mentors, you’ll want to consider: who do you want to be like? Who has the same values and ideals as you? Who has followed the career path you want to mimic? Who has gone about their career in the same way you’d like to?

Ultimately, you want a mentor you respect – one you admire for how they’ve gone about their career and life and who has set a great example for those around them.

Finding an a Great online Mentor Doesn’t Have to Be Hard

If you’re on the hunt are looking for a business mentor or a mentor who can help you achieve your life and career goals, give iConnectX a try. You can find a mentor online who can help you in your business, life or career. All it takes is a few minutes, and you can find a perfectly suited mentor and start your mentoring session program.

Best of all, all mentoring fees go straight to a charity of the mentor’s choice, so you’re not only bettering your career – you’re improving the world around you.

Sign up for iConnectX today and see how it works for yourself.