It works when you do stuff for them :) I had no idea what a good mentor was cause the type of people the orgs assign are doing it out of obligation or want an

It works when you do stuff for them :) I had no idea what a good mentor was cause the type of people the orgs assign are doing it out of obligation or want an obedient slave and its a crap shoot whether personalities and needs match up. The mentors who actually ended up taking me under their wing were people who saw something I could do for them. In one case the dude came looking for me cause I was patching some of his old work that no one else wanted to touch in their free time. So he had an incentive to coach me that turned out great cause he loved to teach and I am naturally curious. In another case I reached out to someone who I had observed getting stuff done through all kinds of shit office politics. We had a reading/study group at work which would meet once a week and I invited him to give the group a talk. That talk got him a whole bunch of connections and he was really gratefully. He was a chain smoker (I dont smoke) but he would pull me out on every smoke break to give me lectures on everything under the sun. I think I learnt more under various trees on the campus than at college. So its really about doing things for others genuinely, being curious about them and keeping your fingers crossed.