Ada Student/Alum Mentor

Ada Student/Alum Mentor

As a Student/Alum Mentor, you will provide 1-on-1 support to a specific Ada student.

Your role will be to:
 * Share your skills and knowledge.
 * Understand that your tone and attitude will influence your mentee’s experience.
 * Provide guidance and constructive feedback.
 * Support your mentee.
 * Report any concerns to Ada Staff.

How to be a ROCKSTAR Mentor
 * Schedule regular check-ins with your mentee - Coffee dates, meetups, text messages, or chat are all great ways to keep communication lines open and available. Sometimes mentees might feel uncomfortable “taking your time” so showing her that you are available and invested is important.
 * Be a positive role model - A mentee can learn a lot from her mentor simply by watching how her mentor behaves in a particular situation. Good mentors will look out for, or even create, experiences and situations in which her mentee can become involved to learn new things. e.g. inviting your mentee to meetups or working on a learning project together.
 * Be genuinely interested in your mentee as an individual - A good mentor will get to know her mentee personally, including her personal and career aspirations and goals.
 * Share your experiences and insights - A good mentor shares stories that you feel are appropriate and helpful, but is conscientious as to how these stories can influence the mentee in both good and bad ways. Be open to sharing your mistakes and failures, as these are often where our biggest lessons are learned. This will also help your mentee be aware that challenges will arise, and the way you dealt with the situation might help her learn how to build resilience.
 * Ask open questions - Good mentors ask open questions to aid in identifying needs, values and passions. It's also a great way to get your mentee to think through situations herself and draw out the consequences of the various choices or courses of action she can take. During these conversations, you should share your wisdom without making decisions for your mentee.
 * Act as a sounding board - Mentees benefit greatly from the opportunity of having a good mentor listen to them. You should allow your mentee to explore her thoughts and ideas openly with you.
 * Provide a fresh perspective - A good mentor will often provide her mentee with a fresh perspective on an issue. You will often have the clarity of distance from an issue or problem that's needed to provide objective feedback. You can also hold up a 'mirror' to the mentee. For example, when appropriate and when the relationship allows, you can help the mentee see what their behavior might look like to others.
 * Provide helpful feedback - Not all feedback is helpful. You should deliver feedback in a way that will help your mentee gain insight to further develop specific qualities or skills. You should always ask for permission to give feedback. Giving unwelcome feedback can be detrimental to any mentoring relationship.
 * Acknowledge achievements - Highlight for your mentee any achievements she might have forgotten to help build her confidence.