How to get the most from your mentor sessions (without wasting the slot)

Mentor time is short; treat it like a working session with a senior colleague. Bring one problem, one artefact (error log, diagram, or CV section), and one decision you need help making.

The best sessions end with a single next action: a branch to open, a paragraph to rewrite, or a question to ask your instructor in the next live Q&A. Vague “career chats” are fine occasionally, but repeated sessions without artefacts tend to stall.

If you are preparing for interviews, rehearse out loud for two minutes before the call. Mentors can then critique substance and structure, not guess what you meant.