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Comment by kevsamuel | Hacker News Reader

I've always wondered why I had a hard time finding a good mentor.

Now that I'm competent and experienced, I get it: I have no time to mentor people.

Pretty much. And people I did mentor wandered off after like 2-3 sessions (into which I put a ton of time), or they got a lot better during a project we worked on together, went off to do other projects, and a year later, I was correcting the exact same mistakes.

As a mentor, you have to be really selective about your mentees (unless it's part of your job of course).

I can do it during work hours, but not really outside that. Or I dunno, maybe young people wouldn't mind doing mentoring sessions after 8:30pm and that would be a more enriching way for me to unwind than zoning out with an ever-diminishing number of interesting TV shows?

i find this whole mentor thing bit silly, why would some one want to mentor me for free?

As a person who has mentored people and is currently a mentor, I can name a number of reasons-

* to contribute to my company/community * to make myself a multiplier (I can do work or I can help 5 junior engineers be a little better at their work) * to learn myself (a great way to learn is by teaching) * to grow my breadth of knowledge (I hear about what other people are doing) * to grow my network * to improve my leadership/managerial skills * because people have invested time and mentorship in me

It's not really for free. There is a social expectation that you'll pay it forward by mentoring someone else in the future.

Also, the mentor gets a competent colleague who can meaningfully contribute in return for their time.

Why wouldn't you want to mentor someone for free? Passing down experience/wisdom to the next generation is rewarding in and of itself.

Thank you for saying this.

I’m kind of surprised by how many of these responses regard reciprocity.

Isn’t it enough to help make another person better?

I want to see cool ideas being built, I don't have time to build them all. Helping new founders is a way to do it.

Not all that seems free is free. Mentoring your team members, for example, results in better performance, more income, and larger TC eventually.

Exactly. The guy makes it sound like good mentors ( which he strangely calls 'personal teachers' ) are hanging around every street corner waiting for someone to procure their services.

It's strange to see the obvious so heavily upvoted. Really? Nobody knew that a good mentor is worth his weight in gold?

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