What’s a Sponsor and How Do You Get One at Work? — The HBCU Career Center

One method you can use to accelerate your career is to connect with a sponsor. A sponsor is someone senior to you in the workplace that sees your work ethic, believes in you and helps you climb the ranks. While a mentor can give employees guidance and coaching, a sponsor will advocate for you behind closed doors.

Obtaining a sponsor can help an entry or mid-level employee level up to another position or opportunity within their company. In addition, there are many benefits associated with having a sponsor, such as employee recognition, improved professional relationships, and potential promotions. 

Another difference between sponsorship and mentorship is that building a relationship with a sponsor is less straight forward and is rarely something you should ask for directly. 

Here are some tips on obtaining a sponsor at work:

Establish career goals

What are your expectations for your career? Before you decide to pursue a sponsor, you should first define your career goals. Discussing your well-thought-out career goals helps potential sponsors understand what you’re expecting to achieve in your professional career and how they can help you attain them.

Display good work performance

A good starting point to attain a sponsor is to perform well at work. If you’re not giving 100%, it’ll be more challenging to catch the attention of a potential sponsor. Sponsors take pride in helping colleagues that are reliable and interested in their own growth.

Take on additional projects

Does your job offer special projects you can participate in? Take advantage of any opportunity that arises in which you can showcase your skills. These specials projects are often headed by sponsors, which means they’ll be able to see your potential in terms of your performance and quality of deliverables (The Muse). 

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