Latest / The Career Mentor Podcast with Fexingo: Finding Mentors, Sponsors, and Career Advisors / How to Find a Mentor When You Are Changing Careers
Transcript
- Lucas: So you are a marketing manager at a mid-size consumer goods company — think Procter & Gamble or Unilever — and you have decided you want to move into product management in tech. You have no product experience on your resume. You do not know anyone at Spotify or Stripe or whatever company you are targeting. Where do you even start looking for a mentor? Luna: Honestly, that's the scenario where most people just freeze. They know they need guidance but the usual advice — 'find someone in your network' — feels useless because your network is all in the industry you are trying to leave. Lucas: Right. And that's exactly why I want to talk about what I call the 'bridge mentor.' Not the person who is already in your target role — although you want that too eventually — but someone who made the exact same transition you are trying to make, maybe two or three years ago. Luna: So someone who walked the path before you. Not a senior executive at your dream company, but someone who was once in your shoes and crossed over. Lucas: Exactly. And the reason that matters is credibility. When you approach someone who has always been a product manager at a tech company, they might not fully understand the friction of switching from a completely different function. But someone who went from brand management at P&G to product at Uber? They remember exactly what you are going through. They know the language gap, the resume gap, the impostor syndrome. Luna: That makes the ask feel less awkward too. You are not just cold-emailing a stranger — you are saying, 'I see you made this leap, and I would love to learn how you did it.' That is a much easier email to write. Lucas: Let's actually build that email. Because I think the specificity matters. If you are that marketing manager, you go on LinkedIn, you search for 'former P&G now product at Spotify.' You find someone. You send a note that says: 'Hi, I saw you moved from brand management at P&G to product at Spotify — that is exactly the path I am hoping to follow. Would you be open to a 20-minute call to share how you thought about the transition?' That's it. No ask for a job. No ask for a referral. Just their story. Luna: And that works because almost everyone likes talking about their own career story. It's flattering. It's low stakes for them. Lucas: I have seen data from a few different sources — including a study by the career platform Teal — that informational interview requests with that specific framing get response rates around 30 to 40 percent. Compare that to a generic 'can I pick your brain' message, which gets maybe 10 percent. The key is specificity. Luna: Thirty to forty percent is huge. So if you send ten of those, three or four people will say yes. Lucas: Exactly. And from those three or four, maybe one becomes a real mentor — someone you check in with quarterly, someone who reviews your resume, someone who introduces you to two other people. That is all you need. Luna: But what about the specific dynamic of a bridge mentor versus a traditional mentor? The relationship probably looks different, right? Lucas: It does. A traditional mentor — especially a senior one — might give you broad career philosophy. A bridge mentor gives you a tactical roadmap. They can tell you: 'Here is exactly how I reframed my marketing experience as product experience on my resume. Here is the certification I got. Here is the hiring manager who took a chance on me.' That kind of concrete, step-by-step guidance is way more valuable during a pivot. Luna: So the bridge mentor is less about 'who you should become' and more about 'how do I get from A to B.' Which is exactly what you need when you are switching fields. Lucas: Right. And there is a second category I want to mention, which is the 'industry insider.' This is someone already working in your target field — but not necessarily someone who made the transition themselves. They can give you context about what skills actually matter day-to-day, what the culture is like, what the unspoken rules are. You need both. The bridge mentor for the how, the insider for the where. Luna: How do you find an industry insider if you don't have a personal connection? Same cold outreach approach? Lucas: Similar, but the framing changes slightly. With an insider, you want to show you have done your homework. You might say: 'I am exploring a move into product management and I have been following your work on. I would love to hear your perspective on what makes someone successful in product at Spotify.' Again — specific, respectful of their time, and focused on their expertise, not on what they can do for you. Luna: I think one thing that holds people back is the fear of rejection. They think, 'Why would this busy person talk to me?' What do you say to that? Lucas: Two things. First, the worst thing they can say is no, and you are exactly where you started. Second, most people are kinder than you expect. I have a friend who cold-emailed a VP at Google asking for advice on transitioning from finance to product. The VP said yes, they had a 30-minute call, and that call led to an introduction to a hiring manager. That person is now a product manager at Google. It sounds like a cliché, but it happens. Luna: So the bridge mentor approach is really about finding people who have already solved the problem you are trying to solve. And it's not just for career changers — it could work for someone trying to move into a new industry altogether. Lucas: Absolutely. Let's say you are a journalist who wants to move into corporate communications. You find a former journalist who now works in comms at a company you admire. Same principle. Or a teacher moving into instructional design at a tech company. The common thread is: find someone who made the specific leap you want to make. Luna: And once you have that initial conversation, how do you turn it into an ongoing mentorship? Because one call is helpful, but a sustained relationship is more valuable. Lucas: The follow-up is everything. After the call, send a thank-you note within 24 hours. Reference one specific piece of advice they gave you and say how you plan to act on it. Then, a few weeks later, send a brief update: 'I took your advice and did X — here's what happened.' That shows you are serious. That makes people want to invest more in you. Luna: So you are essentially demonstrating that you are a good mentee — you listen, you act, you close the loop. That makes the mentor feel like their time was well spent. Lucas: And then you can ask for the next step. Maybe it is a resume review. Maybe it is an introduction to someone else. But you only get there if you have proven you are worth investing in. Luna: It reminds me of something I read about how Sheryl Sandberg found mentors early in her career. She didn't just ask for help — she would do small things like send relevant articles or share what she was learning. She made it a two-way street even when she was junior. Lucas: That is a great example. And it ties into something we have talked about before — the idea that mentorship is not a transaction, it is a relationship. Even when you are the mentee, you can bring value. Maybe it's a fresh perspective, maybe it's a skill they don't have, maybe it's just gratitude and follow-through. Luna: I want to circle back to something you said earlier about the response rate on those informational interview requests. For anyone listening who is thinking about making a career change, what is the single most actionable takeaway from this episode? Lucas: Spend 30 minutes tonight on LinkedIn. Search for people who made the exact transition you want to make. Identify five. Send each a short, specific, respectful message asking for a 20-minute call. The worst case is you get five no's and you are no worse off. The best case is you find your bridge mentor. Luna: And if you have already made a career transition yourself, consider being that bridge for someone else. It doesn't take much time, and it can change someone's trajectory. Lucas: Quick honest thing — a handful of listeners chip in monthly through buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, and that is literally what funds making this many episodes. If this show has helped you think through a career move or decision, that's the way to keep it going and ad-free. No pressure, just putting it out there. Luna: Yeah, it's a small group that makes it possible for us to keep doing deep dives like this one. We appreciate every bit of support. Lucas: So back to that five-person outreach list. I would actually go further and say: do not just send the message tonight. Send it, then tomorrow morning, send two more. The people who succeed at career pivots are not the ones with the best connections — they are the ones who are willing to ask. Luna: And they are the ones who follow up and build the relationship over time. It's a skill you can learn. Lucas: Exactly. And if you are listening and you have been hesitating to make that first ask, I hope this episode gives you a little push. The bridge mentor is out there. You just have to find them and ask.