Product Management mentorship

Join our free Partner Up product management mentorship scheme to learn, develop and succeed in your career.

Free product mentorship

As product management recruitment specialists, we are proud of the work we do within the product management community, supporting candidates in their careers and identifying the best talent for our clients.

We actively support groups that celebrate the product management world such as Women in Product London and Women in Product UK, and we are genuinely passionate about inspiring and connecting people together in this community. 

This free mentorship programme aims to provide a place where product people of all levels can engage, network, access new resources and learn new skills.

How mentoring helps you to build a strong product team Roundtable

Join us for an engaging Roundtable event titled “The Competitive Edge: How mentoring helps you build a strong product team”, where 3 product management industry experts will share valuable insights, strategies, and best practices.

Section 1: Setting the foundation for successful mentorships.

Section 2: How to attract and retain talent using mentorship

Section 3: Fostering leadership and career growth using mentorship

Watch full video

Why choose our mentorship scheme?

Experienced product mentors
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Free access to mentorship
£ 0
Mentees helped so far
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Online resources for global access
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Our Product Mentors

available

Anurag 

Viswanath

Product Leader

Google (Most recent)
available

Iyanu 

Adams

Head of Product

VacePay
available

Thomas 

De Toledo

Senior Product Manager

Kobalt Music Group
available

Angus 

Watt

Group PM

Underdog Fantasy
available

Paul 

Burke

Founder

ProductBee
available

Priyan 

Mistry

Product Lead

AMFG
View all mentors

Partner Up product mentorship

Discover more about our free product mentorship scheme by downloading our overview brochure:

– How does mentorship work?

– What are the roles and expectations of a mentor / mentee?

– What does a good mentorship partnership look like?

– What resources are available?

Download

Resources

We have developed a resource library to help mentors and mentees to get started on their mentorship journey and create an effective ongoing partnership.

Gain access to resources including:

View mentor resources
View mentee resources

How mentorship works

Mentor signs up

  • Mentor completes online application with all required information including job title / company / bio / recommendations
  • Mentor profile is approved or declined by Intelligent People. If approved, the profile appears on the mentorship website and the mentor will be notified

Mentee searches for mentorship partner

A mentee can find a mentor, filtering by:

  • Experience level
  • Industry experience
  • Industry specialism
  • Mentoring topics

Request for partnership

  • Mentee sends mentorship request via mentor form on the website
  • Mentor receives an email notification

Mentorship decision

  • Mentor has the choice to ACCEPT / DECLINE mentorship by clicking the relevant button in the mentorship request email
  • The response should be sent within 3-5 working days

Initial meeting set up

  • If ACCEPTED, the mentor should provide details for the first session by using the scheduling tool within the dashboard. Providing a variety of dates / times to meet is helpful, as well as a Calendly / Google calendar link if required
  • If DECLINED, a reason should be given
  • Follow our guide for the first meeting

Regular meetings

What is the role of a mentee?

A mentee is a person who is willing to put extra time and effort into their career development by learning from a senior leader within their chosen field, or from a leader who will provide personal and professional development.

A mentee is responsible for driving their own agenda and career development plan, with the support of an experienced mentor. This involves asking questions, actively listening to advice and creating an action plan that they stick to.

Find a mentor

Mentee testimonials

Summing up my experience with Intelligent People’s Partner Up mentorship scheme, I have to say, it has been excellent. Mentorship, in my opinion, is a game-changer, irrespective of where you are in your career. It provides you with a chance to shift gears, use your mentor as a sounding board, and gain invaluable perspectives that you wouldn't have had access to otherwise.
Eleni Lialiamou
Mentee
Product Management is great fun but there are rarely formalised career paths and progression can feel hard to pin down. I was looking for inspiration from someone a few years ahead of me who could help me navigate this point in my career, as well as provide an external perspective on my work and ambitions.
Laura Burnett
Mentee
I approached my mentor because I felt his breadth of cross-industry experience, which differed from mine, would be complementary and offer a fresh perspective when advising me on my career goals. I also leveraged Intelligent People’s mentor matching platform and found my mentor to be a good match as he was interested in helping junior Product Managers from start-up and enterprise backgrounds, who were looking to further both their B2B and B2C experience.
Amanda Ho
Mentee
I really like that they are practical, working sessions and I set myself a little homework too just so I can keep in the right frame of mind. We’ve covered a lot from tactics around community engagement to the role of product marketing and how to position my skillset in my next phase.
Olivia Bellas
Mentee
Natalie has been candid and transparent regarding her achievements and setbacks, and the strategies she utilised to attain success. Her experiences are truly an inspiring source of motivation. She is a great inspiration to me, and I love her energy and drive!
Karen Cullom
Mentee
Joel’s profile was impressive – he had a wide array of experience, but also, he worked in B2B. This was important to me as B2B is such a different beast to B2C, and I wanted to connect with someone who understood that. He was immediately friendly and welcoming, and I knew it was a great fit.
Bee Ozguler
Mentee

Mentee qualities

Proactive
  • Responsible for success of partnership
  • Organise all meetings, agendas and discussion points
Respecting boundaries
  • Respect mentor’s wishes around communication and time commitments
Clarity
  • Clearly communicate career and personal development goals
  • Expectations from mentorship
Open to change
  • Be prepared to go outside of your ‘comfort zone’
  • Action all next steps
Responsibility
  • Drive their own career success
  • Work independently, be self-reliant and positive in their career development efforts
Confidentiality
  • Only use the mentor’s name or authority when agreed with the mentor in advance

What is the role of a mentor?

The practical application of a mentor’s product management knowledge, skills and experience can add substantial value to those starting out in the industry or looking to develop their career further.

A mentor is often a senior member of a specific industry that helps a mentee by:

  • Sharing industry knowledge and experience
  • Sharing details of their own career path and any learnings
  • Providing guidance, motivation and sometimes emotional support to tackle obstacles
  • Being a role model within the industry
  • Helping to explore and develop a career, by setting goals and sharing contents and resources
  • Providing coaching towards goals, rather than management towards goals
Become a mentor

Mentor qualities

Building trust
  • Partnerships are grounded in confidentiality and trust
Commitment
  • Time set aside for regular meetings
  • Commitment to supporting the mentee’s career goals
Listening
  • Listening 70% of the time
  • Fully understand the mentee’s goals to be able to give best practice advice
Building trust
  • Understanding the mentee’s learning preferences
  • Guiding to the best solution vs managing to reach the solution
  • Encourage mentee to be independent
Constructive feedback
  • Praise in areas of success
  • Tactful feedback in areas of improvement
Access to resources
  • Industry contacts
  • Guiding to the best solution vs managing to the solution
  • Training, networking, webinars

A good mentorship structure

Introduction
Meeting

The First mentorship meeting plan template can be used to help support this introductory meeting.

In this meeting you should aim to:

  • get to know each other personally
  • understand the goals of the mentorship and top-line goal objectives
  • agree meeting logistics
  • agree communication methods and boundaries
  • agree the next meeting date

Initial goal
setting meeting

In this session, both the mentee and mentor should have access to the below documents:

a) Goal setting template
b) Setting SMART goals

In this meeting you should aim to:

  • set up a solid plan of action to achieve goals
  • set up a system to measure achievement
  • collaborate on projects / goals where appropriate
  • mentors should aim to provide advice, access to resources and guidance using industry experience

Regular mentorship
meetings

In this session, both mentor and mentee should have access to the mentee’s goal setting template.

In this meeting, you should:

  • have a clear agenda of what you want to discuss
  • review achievement of goals to-date, making these sessions results driven and highly focused
  • identify clear actions and next steps for the mentee
  • create an ongoing action plan for learning and development
  • create new goals and objectives when other goals have been met

In these meetings, mentors should provide truthful, critical feedback where required

FAQs

Q: How do I get a product management mentor?
A: To find a product mentor, simply search the Partner Up Product Mentorship scheme, On the Find A Product Mentor webpage, you can find your ideal product mentor, looking at their industry experience and key mentorship topics. Once you have found a mentor, you can apply for free mentorship through the Intelligent People website.

Q: What does a product mentor do?
A: The practical application of a mentor’s product management knowledge, skills and experience can add substantial value to those starting out in the industry or looking to develop their career further. A product mentor help their product mentee by: – Sharing industry knowledge and experience – Sharing details of their own career path and any learnings – Providing guidance, motivation and sometimes emotional support to tackle obstacles – Becoming a role model within the industry – Helping a mentee to explore and develop their career, by setting goals and sharing contents and resources – Providing coaching towards goals, rather than management towards goals – Providing constructive feedback to develop the mentee further

Q: What are the benefits of mentorship?
A: Studies have found that mentors are promoted six times more often and mentees are promoted five times more often than those not within mentorship schemes. 87% of mentors and mentees feel empowered by their mentoring relations and develop greater confidence within their work. Mentoring programmes also dramatically improve promotion and retention rates for minorities and women (15 to 38%) compared to employees not within a mentorship programme.

Q: How can I be good product mentor?
A: The practical application of a mentor’s product management knowledge, skills and experience can add substantial value to those starting out in the industry or looking to develop their career further. A good product mentor is someone who: – Shares industry knowledge and experience – Shares details of their own career path and any learnings – Provides guidance, motivation and sometimes emotional support to tackle obstacles – Becomes a role model within the industry – Helps a mentee to explore and develop their career, by setting goals and sharing contents and resources – Provides coaching towards goals, rather than management towards goals – Provides constructive feedback to develop the mentee further

Q: How do I find a product mentor?
A: To find a product mentor, simply visit our Partner Up Product Mentorship scheme. Here you can search for your ideal product mentor, looking at their industry experience and key mentorship topics. Once you have found a mentor, you can apply for free mentorship through the Intelligent People website.

Q: Is there a website to find mentors?
A: Intelligent People are product management recruitment specialists. As specialists within this field, we are proud to support the product management community, supporting candidates in their careers and identifying the best talent for our clients. We have also launched a product management mentorship scheme. to provide a place where product people of all levels can engage, network, learn new skills and develop their product management careers.

Q: How do I become a product management mentor?
A: To become a product management mentor, simply create an account via the Intelligent People website. On approval of your account, we will ask you to complete your mentor bio, allowing mentees to search and request mentorship. A mentor should then allocate time each month to work on goal setting with their mentee, and providing feedback on progress.

Q: What is the role of a mentor?
A: The practical application of a mentor’s product management knowledge, skills and experience can add substantial value to those starting out in the industry or looking to develop their career further. A mentor is often a senior member of a specific industry that helps a mentee by: – Sharing industry knowledge and experience – Sharing details of their own career path and any learnings – Providing guidance, motivation and sometimes emotional support to tackle obstacles – Being a role model within the industry – Helping to explore and develop a career, by setting goals and sharing contents and resources – Providing coaching towards goals, rather than management towards goals – Providing constructive feedback to develop the mentee further

Q: What is the role of a mentee?
A: A mentee is a person who is willing to put extra time and effort into their career development by learning from a senior leader within their chosen field, or from a leader who will provide personal and professional development. A mentee is responsible for driving their own agenda and career development plan, with the support of an experienced mentor. This involves asking questions, actively listening to advice and creating an action plan that they stick to.

Get in touch

Intelligent People Ltd
St Peters House
45 Victoria Street
St Albans
AL1 3HZ

[email protected]
+44 (0) 1727 736690

For Mentors
For Mentees
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