Mentor: Jackie Hilton, SPHR, Vice President of Human Resources at Social & Scientific Systems

Another feature of this blog is bringing you advice and perspectives from people who mentor, by answering 3 questions.

Today I feature Jackie Hilton, SPHR, Vice President of Human Resources at Social & Scientific Systems.

What are mentees looking for?

I work a lot with junior to newly-minted professionals. They are looking for advice on how to move up the corporate ladder, on navigating difficult work relationships, or are frustrated in the job situation. This often comes from their inability to be the "leader" about resolving their situation.

I work with them to make sure that they are getting clear about what the expectations are for them in their job. In addition, they need to understand how to put themselves forward in the job. This means owning their success – starting with visualizing this and then developing consensus (with supervisor, colleagues, etc.) for this. This will give them a roadmap for moving forward.

What 1 piece of advice do you give every mentee you work with?

Know what you want and need from the mentoring relationship.

When a mentee is engaging in a mentoring relationship, it's important for the mentee to understand and have an idea about what he or she wants from the relationship. Then the mentee needs to be prepared to make the effort to maintain the relationship.

Why are you interested in mentoring?

I had very good mentors and counseling throughout my career that got me moved along. I pay it forward, finding it personally rewarding to the person (mentee) get through the struggle in a successful way.