Latest / The Career Mentor Podcast with Fexingo: Finding Mentors, Sponsors, and Career Advisors / How to Find a Mentor When You Are a New Graduate
Transcript
- Lucas: So you just graduated. You have your diploma, maybe a LinkedIn profile with a headshot from a friend's phone, and you're staring at a job market that feels like a black box. The question we keep getting from new grads is: how do I find a mentor when I don't even have a real job yet? Luna: It's a huge leap. In college, mentors are basically assigned — professors, advisors, maybe a boss at your internship. Then suddenly you're out, and you're supposed to cold-email someone and ask them to invest in your career. Lucas: Exactly. And the instinct is to either not ask at all, or to ask in a way that feels like a burden. So let's reset the framework. A mentor is not a charity case. You are not asking for a handout. You are proposing a professional relationship where both sides get something. Luna: What does a new grad have to offer? I mean, you're fresh out of school, you don't have decades of industry connections or deep expertise. Lucas: But you have time, energy, a fresh perspective, and access to academic research and tools that a lot of mid-career professionals have forgotten about. A listener named Sarah — she graduated last May from a state school in the Midwest — she was targeting marketing roles at tech companies. She wasn't getting callbacks, so she decided to find a mentor in the field first. Luna: What did she do? Lucas: She went on her university's alumni LinkedIn page, filtered by people who worked at companies she admired — not just the Googles and Metas, but mid-size firms like HubSpot and Mailchimp. She found a woman who was a senior marketing manager at a SaaS company in Chicago. Instead of asking for a mentor outright, she sent a message saying she was researching how SaaS companies run their customer referral programs, and would love to ask three specific questions over a twenty-minute call. Luna: That's smart — it's a low-friction ask. You're not asking for a long-term commitment, just a short conversation. Lucas: Right. And she came prepared. She had done her homework on the company's referral program, so the questions were insightful. The senior manager was impressed — she even asked Sarah to share her findings afterward. That led to a second call, and eventually the manager offered to review Sarah's resume and make introductions. That's a mentorship that grew organically from a single informational interview. Luna: I love that she had a project — something that added value for the mentor. It's not just 'pick your brain,' it's 'here's a problem I'm solving, can you help me think through it?' Lucas: Exactly. And that's a principle that works at any career stage, but especially for new grads. You can offer to compile research, analyze a dataset, write a summary of industry trends — things a busy professional doesn't have bandwidth for. That makes you a resource, not a supplicant. Luna: What about when there's no obvious alumni connection? A lot of grads go to schools without a huge network, or their target industry is something totally different from their major. Lucas: Then you pivot to cold outreach based on shared interests. Join industry-specific Slack communities, Twitter chats, LinkedIn groups. Engage with people's content before you message them. Comment thoughtfully on a post, then send a message referencing that conversation. It's warmer than a cold email. Luna: But some new grads are terrified of even sending that first message. They feel like they're bothering someone important. Lucas: That's normal, but you have to reframe it. Most senior professionals remember how hard it was to get started. They want to help — it's flattering to be asked. The risk is not asking. The worst that happens is they say no or don't reply, and you're exactly where you started. But if you ask, you might get a yes. Luna: And it's not just about one mentor, right? You're describing a network of advisors. Lucas: Absolutely. The concept of 'find your mentor' is a myth. You want multiple mentors for different things. One for technical skills, one for navigating corporate politics, one for work-life balance. Sarah now has three people she checks in with — the marketing manager, a former professor, and a peer from a professional association. Each serves a different purpose. Luna: And sponsors — the people who actually advocate for you when you're not in the room — that's a step beyond mentoring. How does a new grad find a sponsor? Lucas: That usually comes later, after you've proven yourself in a job. But you can start planting seeds. A sponsor needs to see your work product. So when you're in an internship or entry-level role, make sure your manager and skip-level know what you're doing. Share wins. Volunteer for visible projects. A mentor gives advice; a sponsor gives opportunity. Luna: I want to go back to something you said — about offering value. Can you give an example of a project a new grad could propose in an informational interview? Lucas: Sure. Say you're interested in product management. You could offer to do a competitive analysis of a feature the mentor's company is considering. You spend a weekend mapping out competitor offerings, user reviews, and feature gaps. Then you present it in a clean document. That's immediately useful. It shows you can think strategically and execute. That's the kind of thing that turns a one-off chat into a long-term relationship. Luna: And it distinguishes you from every other grad who just says 'I'd love to learn from you.' Lucas: Exactly. And along those lines, if you've gotten value from the conversations and strategies we share on this podcast — whether it's the Sarah story or the framework for offering value — listener support is what keeps these episodes coming. We keep the show ad-free, and a couple of dollars a month genuinely makes a difference. If you've gotten something out of it, buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Luna: Yeah, it really does help. We hear from listeners all the time who've landed jobs or built networks because of something they heard here. Even a small contribution keeps the lights on. Lucas: So back to the new grad question. Another underused resource is your university's career center even after graduation. Most alumni have access for at least a year, sometimes longer. They can connect you with alumni mentors formally, or help you refine your outreach. Luna: That's a good reminder. And a lot of universities have dedicated mentorship platforms now, like People Grove or MentorCity. Lucas: Right. Sarah actually used her school's alumni database to find that marketing manager. So don't sleep on those resources. Also, consider professional associations in your target field — many have student or early-career membership rates. They often have formal mentorship programs. Luna: What about the timing? When is it appropriate to start looking for a mentor? Before you have a job, or after? Lucas: Both. Before a job, you're looking for advice on how to break in. After, you're looking for guidance on how to grow. But the search should start early. Ideally, you begin building relationships during your senior year, so by the time you graduate, you already have a few people you can turn to. Luna: That's a great takeaway. Start before you think you need one. Lucas: Exactly. And remember, mentorship is a two-way street. Even as a new grad, you bring energy, curiosity, and fresh eyes. Don't undervalue what you can offer. The best mentors will see potential and want to invest in you because you show initiative. Luna: Any final tips for listeners who are about to send that first message? Lucas: Keep it short. State who you are, why you're reaching out to them specifically, and what you're asking for — preferably a fifteen-to-twenty-minute call. Show you've done your homework. And always follow up with a thank-you, and later, an update on how their advice helped. That closes the loop and makes them feel valued. Luna: And if you've got a mentor story of your own, we'd love to hear it. Share it with us on social media or through the show notes. Lucas: Next time, we're going to talk about something a little different: how to know when it's time to move on from a mentor. Not every relationship lasts forever, and that's okay. Luna: Looking forward to it. Until then, keep building those relationships. Lucas: Take care, everyone.