To understand the benefits of a mentoring relationship, first you need to understand the concept of mentoring relationship. Keep reading to know everything about mentoring relationships and why it is important.
Mentoring relationship or mentorship is basically the guidance given by a mentor. A mentor is an experienced person who teaches, guides and influences someone younger of lesser knowledge or experience known as a mentee. The mentoring relationship is a professional and interpersonal relationship between a mentor and mentee. A mentoring relationship is quite different from a teacher and student relationship. A mentor provides professional support as well as psychological support which help individuals build their career by leading them through a developmental process.
GOAL OF MENTORING RELATIONSHIP.
The main goal of a mentoring relationship is to accelerate a mentee’s performance. A mentor guides and encourages a mentee which gradually results in the better performance of the mentee.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MENTORING AND COACHING .
A common confusion occurs in every student’s mind, that is they get confused between a mentor and coach.
Coaching is a relationship of short duration to only give knowledge to the students and correct their mistakes whereas a mentoring relationship is a long term relationship. A mentor not only provides knowledge and guidance but also gives mental support and encourages students to perform better.
WHY UPSC CANDIDATES NEED A MENTORING RELATIONSHIP?
The main question is why is there a necessity to have a mentoring relationship while preparing for the UPSC exam.
It is not unknown that the UPSC exam is one of the toughest exams in India for its lengthy and tough syllabus and massive competition. In this situation, it often happens that the students get lost within the preparation. They do not understand what to do next and what not to do. A lack of proper guidance can cause more damage than you think. That is why it is extremely important to seek help from a mentor.
- For starters, a mentor helps UPSC aspirants to plan the syllabus. It is a huge syllabus so it is to be planned very wisely to finish it in proper time.
- A mentor divides the time to finish the chapters according to the convenience of the student which is different for different students, is a big help.
- A mentor provides notes in the hand of the student which is the biggest help any candidate can get. He/she also keeps students updated with current affairs which is very important for the UPSC exam.
- An UPSC candidate must know everything about the UPSC exam, starting from the syllabus to the exam pattern. Mentors explain the whole syllabus in a very detailed manner which becomes much easier for students to comprehend.
- The UPSC exam occurs in three stages, prelims, mains and interview round. Mentors give every little information about all the exams and guide students throughout the process.
- They also explain the weightage of each topic of each subject which helps the students to read strategically. In this way, students can spend more time on the important topics and comparatively less time on the low weightage topics.
- UPSC candidates have a very hard decision to make about choosing the optional subject. It is not as easy as it sounds. The optional can make your marks go high up or can take it below. It should be a subject of the candidate’s preference, but also a subject which is scoring, so a mentor understands each student’s condition and helps them to make their decision.
- To crack the UPSC exam, you have to work very hard. You have too many things to read, to learn and practice. But it is mandatory to read from a reliable and authentic source. A student usually has no idea on the source so the mentor refers them the perfect source for the UPSC exam. For example, NCERT books are the most important for the UPSC exam.
- After completion of the syllabus, it is important to revise the syllabus and give mock tests. So mentors make less time taking revision routines for students for last minute revision which is very much helpful.
- On the other hand, mentors guide the students throughout the whole mock test period, providing them every inch of help they could get.