Mentorship Guidelines

Our collective insights and experience are distilled in the list below to help both mentors and mentees begin their mentorship journey. While the below are best practices, feel free to engage in whatever way works best for you and your match.

Are we missing something important? Let us know!

MENTORSHIP OBJECTIVES

  • Enhance the professional development of women in technology by building trust and creating partnerships in the Portland community

  • Creating avenues to expose participants to new networks and ideas

  • Deepening bonds within the PDXWIT community

IF YOU ARE A MENTOR, YOU WILL...

  • Serve as role model and support structure for mentee

  • Foster open communication

  • Be willing to learn through the mentorship narrative

  • Help problem solve, rather than give direction

IF YOU ARE BEING MENTORED, YOU WILL...

  • Determine personal objectives for wanting a mentor

  • Take initiative by preparing questions in advance

  • Recognize one mentor may not fulfill all developmental needs

  • Seek advice and accept feedback

Scheduling your first meeting

The PDXWIT Mentorship Committee will send an initial match introduction, but each party is responsible for taking it from there. Send your mentorship match an email to introduce yourself and give a welcome! We recommend sending your LinkedIn contact information both so you can connect and also so you know who to look for on your first meeting.

Next, you’ll want to share in what part of town you work: NW Portland, NE Portland, SW Portland, SE Portland, Hillsboro/Beaverton, etc. We ask that you attempt to contact your match more than once, remembering that emails may get missed inadvertently.

Also, please wait three weeks for your match to reply before contacting us that you need a rematch. We frequently see excited participants away on vacation who miss emails for a couple of weeks.

Meeting frequency and logistics

We recommend you have a cadence that works for both mentor and mentee. You can meet monthly or quarterly or another frequency that works for you! Once you choose how often you’d like to meet, set up a recurring meeting for one hour to meet at a coffee shop in between both of your offices. Meeting in person is a great way to cultivate the mentorship relationship.

What to discuss in your initial meeting

Start by giving each other your background, educational and professional. Then you can ask the following questions.

Mentors can ask mentees:

  • What are your five best qualities?

  • What is an obstacle you face in your current role?

  • How will you measure success in your career?

  • What tactics do you use to achieve work-life balance?

Mentees can ask mentors:

  • 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?

  • What tactics do you use to achieve work-life balance?

CODE OF CONDUCT

We ask that all Mentorship Program participants adhere to our Code of Conduct.

This program is made possible by the support of The MJ Murdock Charitable Trust