“Guy, forget Tech. I don’t see anything there. I have been on it for 3 years but I can’t seem to make headways. Not even a single gig. All those things are scam.” Josh vibrated.

“Hold on, hold on, I am your friend yes, but I am not guy, lol. Has it gotten to the extent of calling me, guy?”

He laughed. “All I’m saying is, Tech Skills are over hyped.”

My friend, Josh has been on this journey like he said, for three years. He is as some would say “self-taught” or “Internet-taught” and the truth is, Josh is not fit to handle gigs yet, I do tell him.

Discussing with Josh, I made him know the importance of learning from one source to avoid information overload and most importantly, having someone hold your hand as you build a career in Tech. This is known as “Mentorship-based learning.”

What is it about?

The UNESCO International Bureau of Education sees mentorship-based learning as a relationship between a less experienced individual and a more experienced person known as a mentor through which the mentor facilitates and supports learning.

It can involve a one-on-one relationship or a network of multiple mentors.

The purpose of mentoring is to help mentees tap into the knowledge of those with more experience than themselves and learn faster than they would on their own. It is also an opportunity to grow their network and connect with leaders rather than just their peers.

So the internet can be likened to an ocean with all kinds of creatures, some of same species but they sure have their distinctive features. The same can be said about course materials available on the internet where you have different people teach their own perspective on the same matter.

The negative effect on the learner? Information overload, Confusion and frustration. Take for instance Digital Marketing. There are lots of videos on YouTube about it but all are different with a thin similarity which is difficult to spot.

Relying on the internet to learn a Tech skill will leave you picking tiny fractions of information with no guidance on how to piece them together. Because, the course creators are not readily available to attend to the learners.

This is why it is important to be intentional when choosing where to learn a skill. And choosing a Tech skill service provider like Mentortribes that leverages on mentorship-based learning makes a whole lot of difference. Tech is hard already. Navigating through it without help is a journey you wouldn’t want to make.

Is it worth the hassle?

On the flip side, Mentorship-based learning will save you all the rigors and hassles of having to figure things out on your own.

Here are some of the advantages of Mentorship-based learning in Tech:

1. Shortens the learning curve: With mentorship-based learning, you are guided by mentors on the dos and don’ts of your chosen Tech path as well as industry best practices. You also learn what you are supposed to straight up rather than experimenting on trials and errors and in turn waste time unnecessarily. Having someone mentor you will cut a journey of three years by half or even less.

2. Leverage on the experiences of mentors: The mistakes, the lessons, the toils have all been done by mentors. They know where the jobs are and how to get them. Holding your hands means you do not need to do the searching. They have cracked the code and you just have to leverage on their experiences to excel.

3. A support system: Is there a feeling greater than having someone you can call on when you feel stuck? I doubt there is. I was discussing with a friend and he said that for the past three days he has been trying to troubleshoot a particular issue but it wasn’t working. Imagine that he has a mentor, he would not have to waste such amount of time on a single task.

Having a support system also comes in handy when you feel like giving up. Because the truth is, days would come when you feel like nothing is working and you would want out. A mentor would therefore hold you down while using himself as a reference point on why you should persevere.

4. Have someone refer you to people that matter: A mentor is that one person that would mention your name in a room where your expertise is needed. You wonder why you have not gotten a job in Tech and someone whom you know when he started learning, finishes and gets one easily? Or why some people get higher paying jobs than others? They have people on whose back they ride: mentors!

With Mentorship-based learning, you get to connect with industry leaders rather than your peer.