What do I do if I cannot answer a mentee's question?
Every mentor hits a question they cannot answer. What separates a good session from a bad one is what happens in the ten seconds afterwards.
- Read time
- 3 minutes
- Module
- Harder conversations
- Session length
- 30 minutes
What good looks like.
Say you do not know, then say what you do know that is adjacent. Partial knowledge, clearly labelled, is genuinely useful.
Never guess about visas, salaries in markets you do not know, legal questions, or qualification requirements. A confident wrong answer can cost somebody a year.
Point them to a better source: a professional body, a specific team, or another mentor on the platform in that field.
A sequence you can follow.
- 01
Say it plainly
That is outside what I know well.
- 02
Offer the adjacent thing
Here is what I can tell you that is close to it.
- 03
Name a better source
A body, a role, a mentor whose job that is.
- 04
Move back to your ground
Spend the remaining time where you are strong.
What to avoid.
Guessing about immigration or legal requirements
Bluffing to protect your credibility, which does the opposite
Apologising for so long that the session runs out
Extra tips
Small things that make the half hour better.
Say it in the moment
Guessing costs a mentee weeks; "I do not know" costs four seconds.
Offer the next best thing
Who would know, or where you would look yourself.
Write the question down
Look it up afterwards and you will have the answer for the next mentee.
Separate fact from opinion
Tell them clearly which one you are giving them.
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.
Can I refer them to another mentor?
Yes. Suggest the field and they can request a match in it.
Next: Holding boundaries.
Generous inside the session, clear outside it.