We asked Alumni to share the best advice they received from their mentors.
Here is what they shared:
- Focus Energy on the Conversation
- Nurture Career-Long Relationships
- Embrace Criticism as Guidance
- Curiosity Fuels Career Advancement
Focus Energy on the Conversation
Be present while in a conversation. This is the best advice that I received from my mentor, and I still stick to it. In today’s world, we are inundated with stimuli from our connected devices that we carry or wear. There might also be other distractions, such as ambiance, crowd noise, etc. It has been well-proven that the human brain is a terrible multitasker. So, when in a conversation, focus all your energy on the conversation. There are always emergencies, and they can interrupt conversations, but they should truly be emergencies and not just another routine email notification. Silence your phones and watches, close the lids of your laptops, and pay attention to the conversation at hand.
Shripathi Krishnan, MBA ‘09, Transformational Leader
Nurture Career-Long Relationships
Mentors come in all shapes and sizes, and some of the best advice I’ve ever received came from a client early on in our company. Prior to working with us, he was the Director of Sales who grew his startup from 0 dollars to a billion in revenue. His advice was that all the clients, customers, and contacts you create throughout your career never go away, as long as you treat them right. So, you might be on your third startup, but if your previous customers believe in you, they will be back, and you will be that much further ahead the third (or fourth, or fifth) time around.
Eric Mulvin, B.S. Marketing ‘08, CEO, Pac Biz Outsourcing
Embrace Criticism as Guidance
To be honest, some of the best advice I ever received from a mentor was that they did not believe I was cut out for the jobs I was dreaming of pursuing. I got this “advice” about midway through my college career, and it was soul-crushing. However, in my defeat, I decided to take an Intro to PR class… and wound up loving it. I felt I had truly found what I wanted to do, and I never would have done so had I not received that feedback. The lesson becomes: anything can be advice, even criticism. It’s what you do with that feedback that matters.
Taylor Nelson, B.A. Journalism and Mass Communications ‘16, Account Supervisor, Brodeur Partners
Curiosity Fuels Career Advancement
You don’t have to know everything about doing a job, or even about the company, before you accept a position. Take the job, be curious, ask for help, and learn from your mistakes. I have taken three jobs in three industries with little prior knowledge of what they manufactured and to whom. Each time, I quickly learned and moved into higher-level leadership positions within a few years.
Dr. Marcia Reynolds, MEd Adult Learning ‘87, President, Covisioning LLC
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