Recent college graduates and new hires are often assigned a mentor, someone usually arbitrarily selected as guide to get them started in their jobs. Then two problems can come up. First, the mentor doesn’t have the time or inclination to give advice. Second, though mentors may have held the same job sometime in the past, the job is now different and their advice is meaningless.
If the new worker looks around for a friendly face and tries out one or two, an unofficial mentor may be found who will be willing to answer questions and advise on projects.
