79% of workers seek mentor access for upskilling
As more people work from home because of the ongoing pandemic, the need for mentor-led, career-focused partnership is exactly what today's career-changers and job-seekers need, reveals India’s first mentorship survey from Springboard, a leading online platform for workforce upskilling.
The current transition to remote work has significantly impacted career growth and development prospect for many in India. From leaders to job seekers, there is a pressing need to rethink how growth and development is perceived. Virtual mentoring programs can fill the major gaps in the current job market and help people across the world achieve their career goals.
The preliminary results of the survey revealed that not every professional could distinguish between teaching and mentoring. Mentoring and teaching are equally important but when it comes to professional learning and development, the process matters. So, should they go for a teacher, a mentor, or both? As per the survey, 62.7% of professionals prefer to take an upskilling program that gives them access to a mentor. The survey reveals that a whopping 87.9% respondents think access to a seasoned mentor can profoundly boost their career success and trajectory while 79.4% feel that one of the best ways to transition to a position in a new industry is with the help of a mentor. Having access to an experienced mentor helps professionals identify and bridge their skill gaps and expedite knowledge acquisition to achieve their career goals. On being asked about challenges in one’s career growth, 41.9% of professionals chose ‘the need of a mentor to guide them’. The survey also revealed that 46.4 % of respondents were unable to find a mentor that suited their needs.
Vivek Kumar, Managing Director, Springboard India said that the survey has shown us that, while content and certification are just the tip of the iceberg and can help a professional grow only to a certain extent whereas effective mentoring can do wonders by applying that knowledge at the right place, in the right manner.
The survey broadly underscores the missing link between the professionals and their career goals and lays emphasis on mentorship being a significant part of success throughout their career. Springboard has endeavored to fill this gap by not only focusing on the content of up-skilling programs but also getting people where they want to be, by providing them effective career guidance from top industry experts. It is not just the learners’ aiming to ace in their career by taking up upskilling courses, to enable them to achieve their goals, Springboard offers 1:1 mentorship-led job guarantee programs in AI-ML, data science, data analytics and UI/UX where demand exceeds the availability of talent.
There has never been a more important time for professionals to focus on their careers considering the companies around the world are suddenly transitioning to remote work, which can potentially impact their growth. Springboard’s mentorship survey was conducted to evaluate the perception of mentoring. The survey covered 500+ professionals from various professions across metro cities in India, their experience level ranging from entry (44%) to the director (2.1%) level.
The current pandemic has preempted the heightened need for people to seek mentoring while learning. While 69.4% of respondents feel that re-skilling is closely linked to career growth, 79% are willing to take up a re-skilling program that gives them 1:1 access to the mentors. Valuable mentoring takes effort and establishing effective mentoring relationships requires certain skills and structure from both the mentor and the mentee. When both sides take responsibility and commitment to make it work – that is when success strikes.