Based on my own experience as a mentor and a mentee, the following list summarizes the most effective questions that you can ask to your mentor:
1. What was the best decision you have ever made? What was the worst?
2. What is the one thing you would have wanted to know before starting your professional career?
3. How do you manage disappointment or failure?
4. What would be your dream, your fantasy, if you were not at your current job? What is stopping you from doing it?
5. What was the best piece of advice you have ever been given?
6. If you could write a letter now to a version of you from the past, what would it say?
According to Bert Gervais, founder of Success Mentor Education, these are other questions that could help take full advantage of the mentoring meeting:
1. How do you spend most of your time? Can you describe a typical day in your professional and personal life?
2. What would you do if you were in my shoes?
3. How can I help you?
4. Is this the place you thought you would be in? How did you get here?
5. What used to be your greatest weakness? What did you learn about yourself in the past 6-12 months?
6. What do you think is your biggest strength? What makes you proud?
7. What professional organizations or associations are you a member of? In what way did they help you?
8. With whom would you recommend that I relate?
9. FORM: acronym for Family, Occupation, Recreation and Motivation. Finding something in common with your mentor would be great to help build a relationship then and in the long term.
10. If I have any more questions, can I contact you later?
“EXERPT FROM THE BOOK “A VITAL WOMAN’S JOURNAL, EMPOWERMENT, LEADERSHIP AND MENTORING FOR YOUR PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL EVOLUTION” BY MARIA GABRIELA HOCH (BOOK AVAILABLE IN AMAZON IN SPANISH )