Description
A mentor is someone further along in their career who is willing to share their experience with you. In creative industries, mentors can open doors, save you from expensive mistakes, and help you understand an industry from the inside in ways that school cannot.
Learning Objectives
By completing this assignment you will be able to:
- Identify characteristics of a useful mentor for your specific career goals
- Research professional communities where mentors can be found
- Draft an initial outreach message to a potential mentor
Steps
- Read: How and Why You Want to Find a Great Design Mentor.
- Think about who is already in your life who could serve as a mentor, a professor, a supervisor, someone from a networking event, a family friend in the industry.
- Research one professional organization where you might find mentors: AIGA Arizona, Women in Animation, or a Discord community in your specialty.
- Write a response here (4-6 sentences): one person (real or a type of person) you could reach out to as a potential mentor, where you would find them, and what you would say in an opening message. Draft that opening message as part of your response.
Example
A good mentor outreach message is short, specific, and asks for a small commitment:
“Hi [Name], I’ve been following your rigging breakdowns on Instagram for a while. I’m finishing a 2-year animation program at GCC and trying to understand what the path from school to a studio role actually looks like. Would you be open to a 20-minute Zoom call sometime in the next few weeks? No pressure if you’re too busy.”
Notice: it is not asking for a job. It is asking for 20 minutes and a real conversation.
How to Submit
Write your reflection and draft outreach message directly in the Canvas text entry box.