Should you Mentor younger folks- Should you charge a fee for that?

For sometime, forget who is the protagonist in this question.. Who is asking the question and to whom.

Imagine yourself.

Few years back, or quite some time back, you got into the professional world, just after your education.. And were happy to get into a job. Suddenly from very tiny amount of pocket money to a salary which might be about 4-5-6 times or more.. you were ecstatic. And then you worked hard, made more money, learnt more, changed jobs and did better in your career and you are here today, because of your hardwork, vision and what not.

Let's Pause and introspect.

If I ask you today, whatever you know today - was it the same what it was 10 or 15 years back.. You will nod your head - Negative! There are so many things you know today that you wish you knew when you were starting out.. If only..

I started a magazine during my college days, we printed it on our own and then sold it and made real good money. But then guidance was less or may be the folks I hanged around with - everyone wanted to get into the IT industry and once we were out of college, I just dropped the idea and focussed on Mainframe and coding in Cobol, DB2, CICS, JCL and more. I had a business model, I knew what was lacking, I "could have"... bla bla bla.

Long story short.
Mentoring matters.

Image Source: enterprisestudy.com

If you had got a mentor who can guide you because he has been in the industry (of course in a related industry), he would have seen the industry more, experienced it more and could guide the right thing. This is true in every stage of life.. As a new professional, you need a professional mentor. As a mid-aged professional, you need someone senior who has a bigger, wider view of things. As a new parent, you could get advice from your parents. More.. You get the drift.

Then, whatever you have done in life till now.. Does it not make sense to give it back?
Of course, financially giving back is a decision I would leave it on you, but your time and advice is the biggest what you can gift anyone. And if there is someone who you see is struggling and you can help.. Go do it!

Should you charge a fee for that?
Nothing wrong. But you decide - why do you want to mentor?

Here is a discussion in Quora I found - https://www.quora.com/Should-mentors-charge-a-fee-and-how-do-I-find-one

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You want to mentor because you want to give back.. If you are getting it back, then there is nothing you have offered. You are getting a value of your time.. thats it! I dont say this is wrong. But it is right, only if you are in the business of offering mentoring to younger folks and that is what you do for a living. But the irony is, the moment you do that for a living, you are not anymore in the industry for which you are mentoring somebody.. Your core job is to grow your mentoring business and the logic gets complicated to justify why you are charging.

Long story Short again.
Dont freaking charge.

But then you only have few hours in the day which you can devote. How can you mentor everyone?
You can't. Simple. You have only X liters of blood in your body. You have to stay alive to donate. You can't donate to everyone on earth if they need. So, human beings have limitations. Accept them.

Some mentoring requests you decline, politely. Some you accept. Truly mentor them.
Help them be you. Help them become better than you.

Does it all make sense?

If it does, I would love it if you can vote, and resteem it!

Cheers
Subhendu