I think the reason this thread keeps coming up is that this issue matters, but is so rarely discussed.
I have rarely met professionals at meetings. So my sponsors were a retail clerk, a construction worker, and office workers.
They were intelligent and caring people. But I found it hard to follow their direction on my career because they just did not understand how things go in my line of work. They became frustrated with me and I became frustrated with them.
I think I would have done better in the program if I had been able to get a sponsor whose experience was more like mine. I would certainly been able to trust his direction on career stuff more.