đŸ§Ș

Making the most of the trial

Making the most of the trial

You've accepted a mentee's application and they've agreed to a 7-day trial. Congratulations! This means both of you are curious about working together. But how can you turn that curiosity into confidence and trust? Read on to find out!

The trial is a two-way street

Mentorships are not one-size-fits-all. Mentees often need to contact multiple mentors to find the right fit. In the meantime, not all mentees are worth your time. The 7-day trial is an opportunity for both of you to make sure you’re on the same page before committing to a long-term relationship.

Product management mentor Colleen Graneto believes the most important thing of the trial period is the right mindset:

The trial is a benefit to both the mentee and mentor. You should be thinking of this as the time to set the right expectations, confirm you’re on the same page, and either close the deal or redirect the mentee to another option that is a better fit.

Align expectations and set ground rules

You may have already touched upon expectations during your initial contact with the mentee. Use the trial period to dive into the nitty-gritty details! Talk about whether you'll have regular one-on-one calls, what topics you'll cover during these calls, how your mentee can reach out to you between calls, and what kind of questions they can ask you every day. Painting a picture of your regular interactions helps the mentee imagine succeeding with your guidance and support, and helps you rule out anyone with unrealistic expectations.

I've found across many mentoring relationships that it's important to lay out and understand expectations early - both the mentee's expectations of the program, as well as your expectations from the mentee and what you're able to provide. The key to a good mentoring relationship is to not have any misunderstandings about what the mentee expects from you, and concurrently for the mentee to be clear of what you're providing as a mentor. For example, if you have a ground rule that you're not here to complete their projects on their behalf but rather to guide them through the process, make sure your mentee understands this from the beginning so that the relationship doesn't break down because of mismatched expectations. - Data science mentor Leoson Hoay

Protect your time, but don’t hide your value

As we’ve mentioned earlier, mentees often need to compare mentors to find the right fit. Spending hours and days on each trial can quickly lead to burnout—we don’t recommend that! In the meantime, the trial is an opportunity for you to help the mentee see the value of working together. Here are some tips to strike the right balance:

  1. If you spot an opportunity for a quick win, share a small tip with the mentee to show your ability to understand their challenge and give relevant feedback.
  2. Share resources that are easy to reuse across mentees. Sending a link to an article doesn’t require a lot of effort from you, and is a great way to show your willingness to help.

A tried-and-tested trial structure

We’ve talked to many experienced mentors and here’s a structure we’ve seen work well:

Step 1. Write a friendly welcome message with clear next steps

Mentees often start the trial while you’re away. We recommend setting up a welcome message for each plan to help them get started before you’re able to come online. Say thanks, let them know the next steps, and consider sharing a meeting agenda to help them prepare:

Hey there, Thanks for signing up for my mentorship program! Let’s meet up and discuss the details of working together! Here’s a brief agenda to help us make the most of our time together: [Insert your agenda items] Feel free to book a call with me here: [Insert your calendar link] Looking forward to speaking with you!

Step 2. Hop on a quick call to get to know each other

Limit the call to 15-30 minutes, and structure your conversation around a clear agenda. For example:

  • Introduction: Let the mentee introduce themselves, then talk about your background and experience in your field.
  • Goals & expectations: Learn more about the mentee’s goals and challenges, as well as what they expect from you. Ask follow-up questions or clarify what you can offer as needed. Offer some quick advice if you’d like to.
  • Logistics: Discuss when and how often you will meet. Be mindful of time zones, and consider setting up reoccurring meetings to make scheduling easy. Discuss what communication tools will be used for coordinating calls and everyday Q&As.

Step 3. Follow up after the call

Send any additional resources, or set up a shared workspace (e.g. Notion or Google Docs) to keep your notes, or give the mentee some tasks to complete between now and your next call. It’s up to you how you structure this message —just be sure to show you’re interested in working together!

Ending the trial early

Mentees will be charged at the end of the 7-day trial unless they cancel the mentorship before that. It’s usually a good idea to give mentees enough space to decide and let the trial end automatically. Sometimes a mutual agreement is reached before the trial period ends, and the mentee is eager to get started. In this case, you can request to complete the trial and dive right in.

You can also use this feature as a way to gracefully say "no" — during the trial, if the mentee asks for something beyond your trial scope, you might want to gently nudge them and say, "That's not typically offered during the trial, but if you'd like to dive into this problem now, let's talk more once we start the mentorship!" Some mentees may leave, but the right ones will understand and respect your boundaries.

A note on communication medium

You might find yourself (or your mentee) gravitating towards different mediums. For example, mentees with limited language proficiency might prefer written communication to a one-on-one call. Regardless of the medium, our recommendations stay the same: align expectations, protect your time, and show your value!

Trial FAQs

  1. When should I have the first meeting with my mentee? Before the trial, or during the trial?

    2. Currently, mentees need to provide their payment information to start the trial. Your decision to meet them before or after this moment has tradeoffs. By sharing your calendar URL early and inviting mentees to book a call as soon as possible, you give them a chance to meet you and build trust before they hit the “paywall”. On the other hand, if you require mentees to start the trial before giving them access to your calendar, you leverage the “paywall” to select mentees with a strong willingness to continue. As a mentor, you can choose what feels right to you. As a platform, we’re still learning about what works best, and will keep you in the loop on our findings!

  2. I’ve met my mentee before the trial begins. What do I do with the trial?

      3. If your mentee has expressed interest in working with you after your first meeting, you have two options:

    1. Use the trial to dive into mentoring work: This approach provides the mentee with extra assurance that you’re the right fit to help them. You can use the 7-day trial to demonstrate your mentoring skills and how you can help them succeed.
    2. Treat the first meeting as the trial: If you prefer not to offer mentoring work for free, inform the mentee that the initial meeting serves as the trial. Mentees can then choose to “Complete trial” to proceed with payment.

      3. We understand this process is not ideal and are working to streamline it!

  3. “The mentee ended their trial at the end of the 7 days. They must be trying to scam me and others.”

    4. While it can be disappointing when a mentee chooses to leave, it is their right to do so. We have monitoring systems in place to catch any illicit behavior, but in most cases, the mentee has simply chosen to work with another mentor.

  4. “I’m going to make mentees book a paid intro call with me instead of offering a free call.”

      5. It’s your right to not offer a free call, but we’ve found that pressuring mentees into a paid session often leads to negative outcomes and bad ratings. As a general rule, we recommend offering a free call, with two exceptions:

    1. If the mentee has a short-term goal that is more suitable for a paid one-off session, direct them to that option.
    2. If the mentee is pressuring you to provide additional advice, use the paid one-off session as a tool to say “I typically don’t offer this during the trial, but if you’re interested to dive in, here’s what I can offer instead.”

  5. “A mentee took hours of my time during the trial and then ended, I want to be compensated”

    6. Protect your boundaries and don't let the mentee take up too much of your time! Please note that we don't have any legal grounds to charge them for their behavior after the fact.