You’ve done all the work to land a summer job, (searching for the perfect company, cold-calling HR, working on your resume, going to interviews) you’ve finally landed your dream summer job and the hard work is over, right? Not really. The work is actually just starting, but this is the fun part: you’re actually getting paid and you’ll learn tons of new skills, get an insight into a fascinating industry and see if you’ll sink or swim in the workplace. The best part is, you don’t have to do it alone.

Now that you’ve had a few weeks to settle into your new job, it’s a great time to seek out mentors. The workplace is a great place to find these people. They can be co-workers or superiors and typically have more experience than you. Integral to your personal development, mentors should be willing to share their experiences with you and take a genuine interest in your growth and success.

Feeling a little awkward breaking the ice? Here are a couple tips I’ve come across:

• Check to see if your company has a mentoring program
• Talk to people who were hired a few years before you
• Seek out retired executives who might volunteer as mentors
• See if your company sponsors any conferences for opportunities to network
• Working for a small company? Pick up a book! Biographies can also lead you to mentor figures

I’ve been lucky enough to have had several mentors who were kind (and patient) enough to spend some time talking to me about their experiences and sharing their advice in sticky situations. But establishing the first point of contact is not enough! It’s important to maintain relationships with your mentors, they will become a part of your professional network and sounding board. Try to keep in touch with your mentors at least a couple times per year. They’ll be interested to hear about your latest endeavours and you should be interested in theirs!

When seeking out a mentor, my best experiences have been with people who like to talk. Finding people that you respect and think highly of is great, but if they aren’t talkers, you might have a harder time benefiting from their expertise. Also, see if you can talk to your mentors outside of the office, ask them out to coffee or lunch. This might allow them to speak more openly about their experiences, especially their frustrations.

There is some degree of altruism behind mentoring. While the mentor may have a genuine interest in you, they don’t usually ‘get’ anything out of meeting with you and sharing their stories. They usually are genuinely interested in your personal and professional development, but they also care about the success of their company and perceive your growth as fostering that.

Be sure to pass on the torch!

Lastly, once you’ve been through the initiation into a new company, be sure to connect with the mentoring program at your company (especially if you’re a returning co-op or summer intern). You might not have an abundance of experience in the field, but you can help a new hire get oriented and settled into the new work environment by acting as a mentor to incoming students and new hires.