Finding a Mentor
A product design mentor is the highest-leverage hire of your career. Vet them like one.
The mentorship market is crowded with people whose main shipped product is their mentorship. The five questions below separate practitioners from content creators in a single discovery call.
Five questions to ask before you pay anyone
“What have you shipped, and what was your role in it?”
Titles are cheap. You want someone who owned outcomes: made the calls, lived with the consequences, and can show the product. Vague answers here predict vague feedback later.
“Can I see work from people you have mentored?”
A real mentor can point to before-and-after: portfolios that improved, mentees who got hired. If everything is testimonial screenshots and nothing is inspectable, be careful.
“How much of each session is my work versus your material?”
The right answer is most of it. Mentors who mainly present slides are running a course with a higher price tag.
“What happens when I disagree with your feedback?”
Good mentors want you to push back and can explain their reasoning from principles. If disagreement is treated as not listening, you will learn obedience, not judgment.
“What does support look like after the program ends?”
The job search often starts after the last session. Ask what happens when you land an interview three months later and need a portfolio review that week.
Red flags that predict a bad engagement
Any one of these alone is a caution. Two or more and you should walk.
What a serious mentorship includes
Live 1:1 sessions where your work is on screen, not a webinar seat
A structured arc from product thinking to shipped work, adapted to your level
Career assets built alongside the craft: portfolio, resume, interview practice
A clear scope in writing: hours, deliverables, and what support survives graduation
Hold us to the same standard
The CVEdge mentorship is led by B Sivarami Reddy, a designer-founder with 10+ years in AI product design who built and runs CVEdge itself, the product you are reading right now. His work and background are public, so you can apply every question on this page before booking a call.
New to the field? Start with how to learn product design or read what UX mentorship actually involves.
Vet the mentor on a free discovery call
Bring the five questions above. The AI Product Design Mentorship is 100 hours of live 1:1 sessions with lifetime portfolio reviews after you graduate.
See the Mentorship Program