Finding mentors is one of the most important things you can do to get your career off on the right foot. There’s a great post on the Forbes website by Sabina Nawaz called “9 Tips to Land a Great Mentor: How to Ask a Stranger for Career Advice.” The advice in this post can be especially helpful to new grads who may be uncertain how to ask for mentoring help.

But first, be clear about what kind of mentor you’re looking for. There are at least four different kinds of mentoring that can help you get your footing in the workplace. And each type of advice might come from a different person.

Career coaching  — This comes from someone who can give you valuable advice on how to pursue a career path, either in a particular company where you’ve begun working, or in a general field that you might be interested in. They might advise you on typical career paths people take in sales, marketing or journalism, what skills you will need to develop, salary expectations, problems with the field, and so on.

Mentoring for professional skills – If you have a degree in architecture, you face a whole set of exams you must pass before getting a license. In this case, the right mentor would advise you on the specific steps to take to progress in your profession, as opposed to moving up in a particular company.

Mentoring to learn a job – This kind of mentor could be a boss, who is actively helping you master the skills needed to perform a new job, such as assistant project manager or sales associate. More often, a good candidate for this type of mentor will be a colleague in your department or a veteran employee who has a lot of experience in the organization. They may volunteer, or they may be assigned to teach you how to succeed in your new role. Or you may have to actively seek them out.

Mentoring in the trenches — This could be someone who advises you temporarily so you can learn how to do a specific task, work with a particular software application, or master some specialized area that is important for your job. Some engineers I’ve worked with call this “drive by knowledge transfer.” It is real-time help, but in a specialized area.

Regardless of the type of mentoring you are looking for, in her Forbes post Sabina Nawaz offers great advice on how to engage someone. Here are three of her tips.

1. Be clear about what you want in a mentor.

Think through what you need. Are you asking for broad-based career advice or focused help learning some task essential to your job? Even if you realize that you’re confused about what you need, that’s progress. Because it’s okay to ask potential mentors for help thinking through your priorities and what you need to know. That’s a reasonable request.

2. Value the other person’s time.

If someone is a worthy mentor, it probably means they’re really good at what they do. So they’re likely to be extremely busy and in demand. When asking to meet with them, indicate you’re only asking for a little of their time. (They will often give you more time once they get engaged in helping you.) But always make it clear that you respect their time and the attention they’re giving you.

One way to communicate this respect is to always, always take notes. Even if you’re not sure what they’re saying is valuable, write down some of what you hear. It will help you remember things later and it signals an interest in what your mentor is saying.

3. Always look for ways to help your mentor in return.

Most people offer to mentor others as a way of giving back. They don’t expect anything in return, except a “thank you.” But your mentors can be some of the most important people in your career development network. And networks are built on mutually supportive relationships.

Here’s a great way to end any conversation with your mentor: “Is there any way I can help you?” Maybe you can be on the look out for articles that would be of interest to them on a particular subject. Or maybe they’re looking to hire someone with special skills that you don’t have. You could offer to refer candidates. Or maybe their kid is struggling with a decision about what colleges to apply to and you could offer to share your experiences. These gestures of help will be greatly appreciated, even if they aren’t accepted.

Good mentors will greatly improve your early career decisions, but understanding the different types of mentors and how to engage them is not something most people know. Apply the ideas here and you will already be ahead of the game.

What’s your experience with mentors? Share the lessons you’ve learned by commenting on this post. And for more practical advice to shorten your job search check out my book “Graduate to a Great Job.”