A lot of people out there just go through the motions. They aren't particularly interested in their field, and seek "mentors" just because this is something you

A lot of people out there just go through the motions. They aren't particularly interested in their field, and seek "mentors" just because this is something you're supposed to do. This is a waste of time for both the mentor and the mentee. In 20+ years in the industry I only had one mentee (out of half a dozen), who was not a waste of time. She's a senior manager at Facebook now. Super smart, and very strongly intrinsically motivated. She'd succeed without any mentorship just fine, but hopefully I helped her get there faster.