Starting your ecommerce career: Are you getting the mentorship you need?

Aug 16, 2018 11:31:17 AM

One of the most important things you need when starting your ecommerce career is opportunities to learn. As a junior employee, you’ll want to get stuck in but along the way there must be people who are guiding you through these early stages.

Are you getting this in your current role? If not, is it time to think about finding a company who are invested not only in your performance, but your development too?

Learning opportunities – how important are they to junior ecommerce employees?

We asked the respondents of our 2018 ecommerce salary survey & insights report what is essential to them in a role. For this blog, we’ve taken the views of our junior ecommerce respondents only! So, how do they really feel about learning opportunities?

58% of these respondents believed informal learning opportunities in a role were important or essential. For formal learning opportunities within a company, 70% of our junior salary survey respondents thought this was important or essential to them in a role.

Do you share these sentiments? If you haven’t really considered learning & mentorship, in any capacity, as important or essential here’s why you should…

Why is career learning & mentorship so important?

It’s simple – at this early stage in your career, why wouldn’t you want as many opportunities to learn and grow as possible? Here are just a few reasons why you should be chasing these opportunities with open arms…

  • Setting you up for the future – Eventually you’ll want to manage a team, a budget and a strategy…right? The smallest of mentorship sessions or an industry event presentation can really make a difference. Attendance to these should be encouraged by your manager.
  • Overcoming doubt – At this stage in your career, you may sometimes feel you can improve or that you’re falling short in some areas. This isn’t entirely reflective of your ability – you need mentorship to help you overcome these hurdles and really begin to flourish.
  • It doesn’t just help you – As we said at the beginning of the blog, your manager should always take your professional development into account…it’s not just about day to day performance. You can use these to not only better yourself, but your team and company.
  • Motivation – Having these learning and mentorship opportunities will drastically improve your motivation. You’ll have opportunities for feedback, so you can see how you develop overtime and you’ll get to learn about new skills and trends! What’s not to like?

Suggestions to get those mentorship & learning opportunities

If you agree with all the above, but don’t think you’re actually reaping the rewards, what can you do? Is it time to find a new job that offers this? Or can you suggest a few ideas to your current company? Here are a few things a company should offer if mentorship & learning is important to them…

  • Company learning days – Every so often, a company should take its employees out of the daily grind and have a day of learning and development. A company wide learning day allows for everyone to learn from each other. You can find out who excels at something you’re not so confident in, while showing everyone what you’re great at. This brings us to…
  • Mentor buddies – This gives people the chance to mentor and be mentored. It’s a great way for you to learn about mentoring someone who needs assistance in a certain area, especially if management is something you’re aiming for. On the other side of the coin, you have a confidant who can help you out too.
  • Self-learning – Being given the chance to set time aside for yourself and learn should be a staple in every office. An hour or two a week to simply study online, join webinars or attend an external conference will really help.
  • Monthly check ins – Whether your manager is your mentor, or someone else within the business, there should be at the very least a monthly check in. Your coach/mentor should set development goals which you can then assess at the next catch up. It also gives you the chance to ask questions, voice concerns or make suggestions.

There are plenty of ways for a company to incorporate mentorship, training and learning – these are just a few of our favourite ways! Is your company doing this?

Supercharge your career from the start

It’s important for everyone to pursue learning and mentorship opportunities, but at a junior stage in your career it is vital! Consider your position and work out if what we’ve discussed today is something you have access to…if not, it’s time to start asking for it!

Have you met our ecommerce career mentor, Desiree? For all kinds of ecommerce guidance, check out her blog page or send in your career question!

What do you think?

Share your thoughts on this post - whether you agree, disagree or have your own insight to share, we want to hear from you!

panda-blog-icon

Subscribe to the cranberry panda blog

Don’t want to miss out on ecommerce news, insights and recruitment gossip? Subscribe to ‘The Panda Express’ updates!