Hey Reader,

Everyone tells you to find a mentor. Get in front of someone senior. Build relationships with people who can open doors.

That’s not bad advice. But it’s not where the real value is.

The relationships that changed my career the most were with people at a similar level as me. Not way above. Not way below. Right alongside.

The people who got me here

Before I had any kind of role in football, I was sharing work online and connecting with other people doing the same thing. We’d message each other, swap ideas, give feedback on each other’s analysis. None of us had jobs in the industry.

That allowed me to make genuine friendships with people who were also sharing work at the same time. I got to learn from them, see their work, ask questions, and develop alongside them.

Most of those people have now gone on to careers in football and sport. The relationships that started when none of us had anything to offer each other turned out to be the most important ones.

Why peers work differently

Mentors are one-directional. You’re learning from someone above you, on their schedule, when they have time.

Peers are constant. You see someone’s work and think - I can take that approach. You share something and get honest feedback from someone who understands exactly where you are. No hierarchy. Just people pulling in the same direction.

And the network compounds faster sideways than upward. Every person your peers connect with becomes one degree closer to you.

The isolation problem

One of my Recruitment Room members described learning on his own before he found anyone else on the same path. Trying to teach himself Python before AI existed, stuck for weeks at a time. The thing that changed everything was finding other people on the same journey.

The technical skills matter. But having people around you who are working through the same problems, dealing with the same doubts - that’s what keeps you going when it gets difficult.

From learning to doing

Before Joe joined The Recruitment Room, he’d never shared work online. No portfolio. No public presence.

He started sharing inside the community first. Got feedback from me and other members. That peer feedback gave him the confidence to start posting publicly.

Start sharing your work publicly. But having peers alongside you who give honest feedback and push you to keep going makes the whole process easier.

So what do you actually do with this?

Find the people at your level. Message someone whose work you respect. Give feedback before you ask for it. Start a conversation with no agenda other than learning together.

You don’t need a mentor to get started. You need one person on the same path who’s willing to figure it out alongside you. That’s enough to change everything.

Cheers,

Liam