A Lifetime of Mentoring:  Potential Questions to Ask

• Did you have a mentor, or mentors, in college?
  • If so, did mentoring help you? How did it help you?
  • Were there any problems or difficulties that you had with your mentor(s)? If so, how did you overcome such problems/difficulties?
    
    
• Similarly, did you have a mentor, or mentors, early on in your career?
  • If so, did mentoring help you? How did it help you?
  • Were there any problems or difficulties that you had with your mentor(s)? If so, how did you overcome such problems/difficulties?
    
    
• How about later on in your career?
  • If so, have you benefitted?
  • If not, why not?

• Do you currently have a mentor in your life?
  • If so, why?  How is it still benefitting you?
  • If not, do you wish that you did? 

• Have you kept in touch with any previous mentors such that you have a continuing relationship with them?  
  • If so, how are you still benefitting?
  • If not, do you wish that you still kept in touch? Why or why not? 

• Have you done a lot of mentoring over the course of your career?
  • If so, why?
  • If not, why not? 

• Describe the types of mentoring relationships you’ve had with your mentees.
  • Did it help you to mentor others? How?
  • Did it ever cause problems or hurt your career?
• Is there a difference in how you mentor now vs. earlier in your career? How did you learn to mentor?
• Have you ever been mentored by, or mentored, someone much younger than you?
  • If so, what were the pros and cons?
  • If not, do you wish you had that opportunity?

• Similarly, have you ever been mentored by, or mentored, someone from a much different cultural background than you?
  • If so, what were the pros and cons?
  • If not, do you wish you had that opportunity?

• What do you think about challenging yourself to have “a lifetime of mentoring?”