Meet Katrin: Reflections on being a first-time mentor

In this blog post, Katrin shares her experience as a mentor with Kiron. From the challenges she faced to the profound impact on her mentee's journey and her joy in fostering personal and professional growth, discover how mentoring goes beyond a professional duty for Katrin.

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Can you tell us a bit more about yourself?
My name is Katrin and I live in Hameln, a small town 40 kilometres west of Hanover. I work at Deutsche Bank in Human Resources - Talent and Development as a leadership consultant.

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How did you hear about the mentoring program at Kiron?
Deutsche Bank supports Kiron, and as employees, we have the opportunity to dedicate a portion of our work hours to support non-profit organizations like Kiron. And that´s how I came across the program, while browsing our intranet page.

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What has been the most rewarding aspect of being a mentor?
What matters most to me is supporting my mentee to figure things out. So I would just ask questions, and allow him to take the time and think of solutions himself. As a mentor, I might ask questions that he didn't think of before. And that's much better than me giving guidance. It is nice to see my mentee, George, have this “aha moment” where he says: “Now I understand what to change to be on the right path for getting the job I really want.”

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Have you faced any challenges in your mentoring journey? How did you overcome them?
My personal challenge was LinkedIn because I am not proficient in using it myself. Now I know that's one thing I have to do for myself, get better at LinkedIn so that I can help my mentee. However, I still wanted to help him, so I reached out to a colleague who is familiar with LinkedIn and connected them. It was a colleague already in the same company, but we haven't had much contact. So by starting a conversation with a simple question, we reestablished a stronger connection now.

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“Helping my mentee helped me grow personally by expanding my network.” - Katrin

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What advice would you give to current or prospective mentors who are considering becoming a mentor?
Anyone who likes to work with people should become a mentor. So if you like working with people, and feel that you could and want to have an impact on them, then that's the right thing for you. 

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“I'm grateful to my mentee. At first, I was unsure because it was my first experience in the Kiron mentoring program. I didn’t have expectations, or know how much time it would take. But it is just rewarding to see that the small steps we´ve taken had a big impact on him. So if you're not sure, just do it! And I'm sure you will like it the same as I did.” - Katrin

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From your experience, are there specific qualities or skills you believe are crucial for an effective mentor?
I think the main thing is to be open to what the other person has to say. Listen more than you speak. And there was a lot of work done in the background. I needed to understand where he was coming from. So I did a lot of research in between our meetings. I like the cultural aspect as well. Hearing about his cultural background was really interesting for me and also important to recognise cultural differences. For example, the content of a CV in Germany has to be different from that in his home country in order to be considered. This was not so easy to convey, but hey, we did it!

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What have you learned about yourself personally through the process?
I felt very appreciated by my mentee. At work, the value of what I am doing is that I get paid for it. With mentoring, the value is his appreciation. Doing something for him made him grateful and he didn't take it for granted. That made me really happy.

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“I said to my mentee that I would like to stay with him until he reaches his goal. I don't want to stop now and say there's someone else I would like to support. So I told him that I don't want to take someone else, because he is my main priority.” - Katrin

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And was there a connection between your professional background and his goal?
The coaching process yes, but not in relation to his goal of finding a job. It took me actually a while to understand his technical background, as I come from a banking background. Regular meetings are important and help to check the progress of his applications. Even if I can't offer him a job, it's important for him to have someone he can turn to with questions, someone who will keep him on the right track and remind him to stay focussed and not give up.

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“I've always had mentors in my life that I didn't actively approach. They just came into my life and that's why I am where I am now. Some I'm still in touch with and others I've completely lost contact with. But yes, I say it's very important to have a mentor.” - Katrin

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Want to become a mentor at Kiron and contribute to the professional & personal development of a Kiron learner? Sign up on our mentoring platform and get matched: https://mentoring.kiron.ngo/

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