Overview

Thanks for signing up for Arena Connections as a mentee. There are so many great folks in our community who would love to be your mentor. Arena is thrilled to make it easy for you to connect with political staff who can help you figure out what’s next.

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Next Steps

You have probably just received an email from Arena Careers giving you three folks who would love to be your mentor. Congrats!

Now, you can and should look up all three on LinkedIn (or other professional platforms). Once you do, reach out to your top choice. If you do not know what to say, check out our quick email template.

Based on your responses to the mentorship questionnaire, our data team matched you with mentors whose expertise and availability align best with what you’re looking for. These top three suggestions are the best fit for your priorities in a mentor. However, if none of these options work for you, do not forget to check out the broader Arena Connections Google Sheet – it has so many options for other mentors (and other folks who are looking to connect in the space).

Responsibilities

Our mentorship framework is simple. We want to give you and your mentor space to figure out what works best for you both, so that everyone gets what they need out of this relationship. Remember, mentorship relationships are a two-way street: you will get out of it as much as you put in.

With that said, please review the code of conduct, and here are a few ground rules to keep in mind:

• Your mentor will set up at least three times to meet with you. If they do not, do not hesitate to reach out again.
• When your mentor reaches out, please respond. (Even if the answer is you don’t have the bandwidth to talk right now!) The worst communication is no communication.
• Show up to your mentorship sessions prepared and ready to have productive conversations about whatever is most important to you. If you prepare and proactively think about what you need out of your mentor, you will have a better chance of having your needs met. Remember, a good mentorship relationship is like any good relationship: open and honest communication is key.
• Some of the guidelines in our Networking and Working Your Resume tool and How To Network blog can help you prepare for a meeting.

Your Role

While your mentor’s role is to provide career coaching and advice and be a soft support system, mentorship is a mutually beneficial relationship. You are giving your mentor critical insight into some of the challenges of being early—to mid-career staff—challenges that could be fundamentally different from what they may have encountered at similar points in their careers.

It goes without saying that you have to show up for this relationship to be successful – your mentor will not magically have all the answers that will get your career to the next step. But if you know what you need out of the relationship and can clearly vocalize your needs, your mentor can likely help guide your thinking as you approach decision points in your career.

Expectations for your Mentor

Remember, your mentor is volunteering their time to talk with you. And, like you, they probably have a time-consuming job in politics. There may be some times when your mentor may take a little bit of time to respond to you; your mentor is likely learning (as you are) how they can be most helpful to you! Equally importantly, your mentor will not have all the answers: they can only really speak to their own experience and provide a framework for how they would approach some of your questions.

With that in mind, it’s always important to lead with an abundance of grace. Sometimes, it might take your mentor a bit of time to respond. That’s ok. And if the relationship doesn’t work out, many other folks on Arena Connections would love to talk with you!

Sample Questions and First Meeting

Your first meeting is critical for setting the parameters around how your mentor can be most helpful to you. Remember, the clearer you are on the front end about how they can help you, the more helpful they will be throughout the relationship.

Here are some sample things to think through before you first talk:

• How can my mentor be most useful for me between the three sessions?
• What are some of the biggest challenges I’m facing right now?
• What ground rules would I like to set (confidentiality, honesty, etc)?
• How do I like to communicate (and how often)?
• What do I want to do next with my career, and what are my long-term plans?
• What are some of my biggest professional strengths and weaknesses?

You should personalize these questions and make them yours.

Follow Up

After talking, it goes a long way to send a quick follow-up note that outlines that it was nice to talk and offers some time to speak next.

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to reach out to our team at careers@arena.run.

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