Mentoring and Consulting - What's the difference?

Overview

Lately, many professionals in the data world offer mentor and consult services. Oftentimes, however, they don't specify what each one of these categories is exactly. Whether it's based on ignorance or an effort to appear mysterious, the fact remains: if your potential client doesn't know what to expect from each, chances are that your collaboration isn't off to a good start! So, let's clarify and see how each can help us draw value from the corresponding knowledge.

Mentoring

Although I've written about mentoring extensively, it's good to re-iterate here. Mentoring is when someone more experienced (even by just a bit) helps someone less experienced, especially a newcomer, with any career- or work-related matter. It could also be more specific, like particular problems or challenges the learner (mentee) is facing. In most cases, mentoring has an educational core and involves a lot of Q&A along with discussions around a given topic to ensure the mentee understands things and develops the corresponding mindset.

Mentoring isn't easy, and it's best if someone is a mentee for a while before starting to mentor. It's not about the knowledge or the know-how you have (though that's very useful too). It's more about transferring that knowledge effectively and getting the other person to learn to think for themselves, using that knowledge. Although mentoring often happens within an organization, it can also happen with external mentors, even online.

However, mentoring is not academic, even if it's often practiced in academia too. Mentoring is practical and specific, something that some people tend to forget. Giving general advice may be part of it, at least in certain scenarios, but sooner or later, it tackles a specific issue. From there, it can go into more general areas and help the mentee expand his/her understanding.

Consulting

Consulting is similar to mentoring in the sense that it involves knowledge transfer too. However, it is geared more towards problem-solving and helping the other person, aka the client, better understand what tactics and strategies come into play. It is generally problem and domain-specific, while it involves more Q&A and less general discussions. In a way, it's more targeted and pragmatic, while at the end there are specific deliverables.

Consulting can also be hands-on, with specific tasks involved by the consultant. In that sense, it's more like freelance work, though in general, a consultant is far better than the vast majority of freelancers. The difference lies in the fact that a consultant has a solid understanding of the business world and works with business people as well as tech professionals. Freelance workers, on the other hand, tend to focus more on the specific domain they specialize in and usually don't have business acumen.

Consulting, just like mentoring, is a solid value-add in an organization. In many cases, the consultant provides more value than the full-time employees there as he/she brings expertise that's not there. At the same time, as an outsider, the consultant is not influenced by company politics and tends to have a wider perspective. This enables him/her to tackle problems better and come up with innovative solutions.

Specific Use Cases

When you are starting a new career or looking into changing your current role, you are often in need of a mentor. The advice offered may be generic, but it can get quite specific, too, depending on how hands-on you make the session. After all, as a mentee, you tend to drive the mentoring session and direct it to your particular pain points.

In the case of having a specific issue with a project, you require a consultant. This can be some modeling problem, a strategy-related matter, or even a specific solution-related issue. In any case, once you explain the problem at hand to the consultant, provide all the essential context, and clarify your expectations, you'll find that it's easier than it first seemed.

If you are doing a data project to include it in your portfolio or wish to understand the methodologies behind it, a mentor can be an invaluable aid. Unlike a book or a tutorial that offers information that may or may not apply to you, the mentor will provide you with tailored advice and help you build upon the knowledge and know-how you already have. The whole experience can be enjoyable too.

When you are developing a new business model and require some assistance with specific aspects of it, to better evaluate its validity and viability, a consultant can be of great help. Defining the scope of the project and its specific domain or market beforehand can also help, as such scenarios tend to be more complex than they first appear. In any case, the consultant can help you navigate the uncertainty involved and come up with clear-cut plans and decisions about it.

Conclusions and Next Steps

Both mentoring and consulting are powerful tools for improving your knowledge, know-how, and your current situation at work. Whether it is via a mentoring session to help you develop your skill set or via consultation to aid you in tackling a particular problem efficiently, you are on the winning side.

If you are wondering where to get started, you can always visit my mentoring & consulting webpage at Topmate. This platform is very flexible and provides you with the infrastructure so that you can focus on the things that matter to you. You can even try things out through a text message; the platform provides that option too. So, check it out when you have a moment!