PDXWIT Mentorship Program:

Frequently Asked Questions

Program Overview

What type of mentorship do you offer?
Our program centers on professional mentorship: How to nurture and grow your career. Some examples of professional mentorship include: how to get into tech, how to advance your career and salary, how to move into leadership, how to balance work and life, etc. Additionally, since many of the mentors have a lot of experience in the industry, they can support you through tough challenges such as workplace harassment, bias, and discrimination.

I am looking for technical mentoring (i.e. how to learn a specific coding language). Can I find a mentor for that?
At this time, we guarantee professional mentorship only (we do have some technical mentors). For technical mentoring, there are programming language-specific meetups in town where you may be able to find a mentor for your technical questions. We do have technical mentoring on our roadmap to consider for the future.

I have a one-time question for a mentor, for example, how to prepare for an upcoming interview or advocate for a raise or update a stale resume. Should I sign up for a mentor in that case?
Mentors are available On the Spot by scheduling an appointment! We designed the professional mentorship program to give long term mentorship opportunities to our community. We created the On the Spot Mentorship tool for more immediate needs and one-time sessions. Whether you need a resume review, portfolio review, or mock interview practice an On the Spot Mentor can help.

How many years of experience do I need as a mentor?
We generally recommend 3 - 5 years of experience in tech to sign up as a mentor. This program is for professional development and if you are here, then chances are you are a great candidate to be a mentor!

Do I need to identify as a certain gender to be part of your program?
The mentorship program is inclusive. ALL people who support our purpose are welcome to sign up. Note that we will match mentors/mentees in ways that foster the greatest amount of learning and value, while keeping in mind each individual's preference of the gender identify of their match.

Mentee Waitlist

Why do you have a mentee waitlist?
Whenever we advertise the mentorship program, we get approximately 3x the number of mentees sign up as mentors. We are constantly on the search for more mentors and many of our mentors take on multiple mentees. Nonetheless, we have a short waiting period before we can get mentees matched.

How long is the waiting period?
Currently, the median wait time is 6 days. Mentees looking for a more specific match, may take a bit longer. We ask for your patience as we continue to recruit mentors to match with mentees.

How can I help reduce the wait time?
You can help us out by advertising for mentors within your company or network. New mentors can sign up on our website.

I am no longer available to be matched with a mentor. How can I let you know?
Email us at mentorship@pdxwit.org to let us know that you no longer want to be on the mentee waitlist.

My match did not work out. What do I do?
We do everything we can to ensure a good match, but sometimes matches don’t work out. Never fear! Email us at mentorship@pdxwit.org and we’ll get it sorted.

Setting up your first meeting

How often should I meet with my mentor/mentee?
You should set a cadence that works for you both, but we recommend at least one hour per quarter.

I received a match email. What should I do now?
Connect with your mentorship match on LinkedIn, if the link is provided, remembering to send a personalized note (for example: Hi! I’m excited to match with you through the PDXWIT Mentorship Program. I will send you an email to find time for our first meeting.).

Next, send your match an email to introduce yourself. Find a location (currently virtual, like Slack or Zoom) and an ideal date/time for your first meeting. Be sure to send a calendar invite for the meeting.

I emailed my match and have not heard back yet. What should I do?
Please wait three weeks for your match to reply before contacting us that you need a new match. We ask that you attempt to contact your match more than once, remembering that emails may get missed inadvertently. We frequently see excited participants who miss the initial contact email. If you don’t hear from your match, contact mentorship@pdxwit.org to get rematched.

What to discuss in your first meeting

What should I talk about with my mentor/mentee in our first meeting?
Start by giving each other your educational and professional background. Then you can discuss a specific aspect of professional mentoring (for example: advice on advancing or changing your career path or how to become a leader or manager).

Mentors can ask mentees: What are your upcoming career goals, what is an obstacle you face in your current role, how will you measure success in your career, and what tactics do you use to achieve work-life balance?

Mentees can ask mentors anything career-related: What roles in your professional career make you the most proud, what skills or achievements did you need to advance your career, how did you overcome obstacles throughout your career, and what tactics do you use to achieve work-life balance?

How do I determine our meeting schedule?
Talk with your match at the first meeting about what the best schedule is for future meetings. If possible during your first meeting, set up recurring meetings for the next 6 to 12 months (for example, at the same time every month or quarter).

Resources

Do you have additional resources I can use to read about mentorship best practices?
Yes! We have a Mentorship Handbook here.

Where can I find the PDXWIT Code of Conduct?
You can find our Code of Conduct here.