How much do I need to explain about my industry?
The thing a mentee cannot get anywhere else is what your working life is actually like. Not the brochure version: the routes in, the unwritten rules, the parts nobody advertises.
- Read time
- 3 minutes
- Module
- Core skills
- Session length
- 30 minutes
What good looks like.
Assume no prior knowledge of structures and titles, and full intelligence otherwise. Explain the map, not the concept of maps.
Say what the job is really like on a bad week. Mentees make better decisions with the unglamorous version.
Name the actual routes in that exist today, including the ones that did not exist when you started.
A sequence you can follow.
- 01
Draw the map
What the roles are and how people move between them.
- 02
Describe a real week
Hours, pressure, who you deal with.
- 03
List the ways in
Graduate schemes, apprenticeships, side doors, agencies.
- 04
Say what is changing
What you would watch if you were entering now.
What to avoid.
Acronyms without translation
Describing the industry as it was ten years ago
Overselling; mentees who arrive misinformed lose more time
Extra tips
Small things that make the half hour better.
Translate every job title
Say what the person does daily before you say what they are called.
Give the route, not the map
Explain how someone actually gets the first job, step by step.
Be honest about money and hours
Real ranges and real weeks help far more than encouragement.
Name the two places jobs get posted
Insider knowledge of where to look is worth more than general advice.
Take this guide with you.
Download a printable version of this guide: the short answer, the steps, the extra tips, the mistakes to avoid and the questions mentors ask, to read before your next session.
The things people ask first.
What if my route in no longer exists?
Say that explicitly. It is useful information, not a disqualification.
Next: When you do not know the answer.
"I do not know" is a complete and respectable sentence.