My foray into Mentorship — Part 2/2: What I learned from volunteering for 100+ free mentorship sessions in 2021

Check out Part 1 if you are interested about how I got started with mentorship.

When I first set up my mentorship profile on ADPList and opened up some slots, they filled up surprisingly fast.

ADPList then introduced a feature for mentees to leave reviews for mentors and it was a big confidence boost to receive a nice review once in a while. At one point they even refactored the site and we lost all our reviews (not the greatest UX), but as I was still booking sessions weekly, I quickly collected more reviews which likely helped keep my slots full. I had tons of free time (thanks Covid) so 2021 was a good year to invest that time into learning and growth.

Due to the nature of the matching process at ADPList at the time, I ended up mostly doing one-off portfolio reviews or giving career advice. The goal of most portfolio reviews was to get a job interview, so the most common questions I got were related to whether an element of a portfolio was desirable or undesirable in the eyes of a potential employer.

Getting mentorship as a mentor boosted my confidence

I had opinions on many things, but that is all they were, opinions informed by my own personal experiences. I believe the hiring process at most companies are similar, but still include many preference-driven decisions. I often found myself lacking confidence when providing answers until I got second takes from other senior designers, recruiters or hiring managers. I relied heavily on some of the private mentors-only channels in Design Buddies and booking sessions with more experienced designers through ADPList to get this second opinion on things.

How this really helped me is I ended up asking more and more questions as I talked to more mentees. Every single time I asked and received feedback from others in the industry, I tucked that data point away for future reference. By the end of the year, I often found the same questions coming up, and now I had some better answers backed by many opinions and data points, not just my own.

Sure there is still no “100% always-right answer” but I could now share some different viewpoints that can help guide someone to the specific goals they are trying to accomplish.

At this point, I had also seen so many junior level portfolios that I had a good sense of if they were “good”. I could spot common errors such as stories that don’t connect, content that didn’t add any value, places where they claim one thing and then do something else entirely. Because I had spent so many hours reviewing portfolios and working on them collaboratively with others, I became much better at offering advice and suggestions in addition to just pointing out problems.

Self reflection was key to learning from this experience

One of the things I think was really important to my development was also writing down everything I was learning. After around 30 sessions, I had already noticed a trend in the types of questions I was being asked. I started the notion resource UX FAQs to start writing down my thoughts on these super-common questions.

By writing it down, I was forced to think through these questions more methodically and also pay attention to the story-telling component of presenting content. Additionally it challenged me to work in new details and insights as I learned more talking to both the mentees and my network of other designers.

Many of these FAQ topics ended up as fascinating discussion points with other designers where I was able to learn more and understand different takes that come from experiences that contradicted my own.

I found that the resource was also very helpful to share before mentorship sessions, so anyone interested in chatting with me can first read up on some general thoughts about a specific topic so we can drive deeper in the time we do have to actually chat via a video call. That felt like a much more effective use of time vs. me just repeating the same two paragraphs every time someone asks me “should I take a bootcamp?”.

Pace yourself to avoid Burnout

I do admit, near the end of 2021, I was starting to feel a bit burned out from mentorship. I was averaging at least 2 sessions a week, sometimes up to 4 when people contacted me through email/linkedin/discord instead of ADPList. My partner was feeling a bit sad that instead of continuing a show or game, or grabbing dinner with friends (as the restrictions started to lift), instead I was in a 30 min call that had ran over to an hour because we were just really engaged in the conversation.

There was definitely a point where it went from feeling fun and exciting to more like an unpaid job that I started dreading… especially when I had to turn down social events because I already had sessions scheduled weeks out. I think it is different for everyone but it took a while for me to find a cadence that worked for me.

While I have mostly closed my calendar on ADPList, my door is still open. I try to pace myself so I can get out out more and enjoy the summer. I still touch base with a handful of mentees and it’s been very fulfilling to follow along their success and see all their hard work pay off. Once in a while I also receive the odd request through LinkedIn which I always try to make time for.

How Mentorship helped me land my next job

So here I am halfway through 2022 writing a reflection on mentorship. It felt like a good time to take a step back and think about all the events that lead to my current role as the Design Lead of the Transformation Products team at VMware.

My role prior to this one was as an Individual Contributor (IC). While it is not always the case, I have found most IC roles tend to focus on what we call “craft” in the design space. It revolves around how “good” you are at design, and all the different facets of skills and expertise that contribute to the specific products you are designing. While I had informal mentorship opportunities in work before, it was usually more around specific areas where I had a higher skill proficiency than another designer. This overarching responsibility that was included in the senior+ levels of job descriptions was foreign to me.

This new role I applied for was as a “Lead” of a small design team, which meant that in addition to the normal IC work, I also had some responsibilities that extended past just “doing design”. One of these was providing guidance and mentorship to my team.

Now when asked about my past experiences with this skill, I could speak to all the hours I spent giving advice through free mentorship. I talked about having to adapt my listening skills to each individual and how I waded through the unstructured stories and questions to arrive at addressable topics where I could share insights. It also didn’t hurt that I had some impressive stats to back up my claims of the effort I invested into being a mentor.

I truly believe that without my experience in volunteering as a free mentor and talking to so many different people, I would not have the confidence or proficiency to succeed in my current role.

Mentorship is a low-risk way for self-improvement

Here I will refer to that Latin proverb “Docendo discimus” which roughly translates to “by teaching, we learn”. This is not just to sound snooty and smart, but also a really apt way to describe the experience of being a mentor.

I can guarantee that “impostor syndrome” will strike even at the mere thought of becoming a mentor, I know that was definitely the case for me. One thing that really helped me get started is the pivot in thinking from positioning yourself as “someone with answers to all the questions around design” to someone who is here to “share their own personal experiences” that may relate to scenarios others are curious about.

For example, it’s hard to say “this is how everyone should get jobs”, but contrast that with “this is what worked for me, and others I know who have been successful in their journey”. Every situation is unique and what works for one person may not work for another. That being said, there is still tons of insights that can be extracted from learning about the experiences of others.

Practicing framing your conversations around sharing an informed opinion over perceived facts will help you navigate the complexities around working as a designer. The whole field is full of contextual problems that often don’t have one correct answer, so the ability to explain multiple options along with your take on the pros and cons can be very helpful for developing your communication skills with coworkers and peers.

At the end of the day, the role of the mentor is not to tell people what to do but rather help them guide their way through a situation and navigate towards a goal. You are likely there to provide more data points on how you (and maybe others you know) have navigated through similar situations and how that affected the outcome. There will always be trade-offs but perhaps your advice and experiences could help someone else plan out their own trajectory. The risks are actually quite low as long as you make it clear that you are not there to tell someone what to do, but just share your personal advice. Worst case your stories don’t resonate with them and you part ways.

Lastly, the more you mentor, the more you learn and that will help you build confidence. After all, it’s a different experience answering a question the first time vs. the 50th time. If you don’t know the answer to something, ask around! Many people who mentor also have their own mentors in their community of peers and coworkers. The process will help you identify gaps in your own knowledge and give you ideas of where you could learn more to develop your own skills.

Closing thoughts

In addition to just learning lots, building my confidence and having a good time, I also found the gratitude I received from my mentees super motivating. Just about every single person I talked to was very appreciative of my time, professional, and went out of their way to thank me afterwards. Additionally, it was so inspiring to see how hard everyone was working to achieve their goals. The best feeling too was when I would get an email after a while with the good news that someone landed a fantastic job.

All in all I had a fantastic experience with being a mentor and I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who is on the fence. Even if you only just got your first job in design, you could be a mentor! I mean, who else has more relevant experience on the topic of “how do you get your first job in design?”

To get started, it’s as easy as typing up a LinkedIn post saying you are free to chat. Alternatively you can look into applying on platforms such as ADPList or Design Buddies (there are many more I am sure).

I might not recommend jumping into the deep end like me and opening up your whole calendar (because please, you should enjoy life outside of your profession). If you pace yourself, it’s definitely an investment in improving your own knowledge and skills in addition to potentially giving back to the design community.

Closing note/shoutout: As with many things in life, it ended up not being about the destination, but the journey and all the friends I made along the way. A huge shoutout to all those pairs of eyes I had on my FAQ resources and all the times I received amazing advice and insights from all the talented designers I talk to. You know who you are ;)

Also, if you had a good experience with a mentor, please consider sending them a little thank you note! You will make their day :)