Mentoring in the Sciences
From the Mentees Perspective
Managing, communicating, and working with a Mentor is an active, evolving process. Like any relationship, open communication and discussion are necessary for a successful experience.
Prepare
To make the most of a new mentoring relationship, the mentee should develop goals to work towards and help guide the conversations. Four broad goals and other examples are listed below to help you think about what you may need from these experiences:
- Career Exploration – I am not sure what career options are available after my PhD. What is it like to work in your career field?
- Career Guidance – I know I want a career in your field, how can I make a successful transition?
- Academic career support – Like you, my career goal is academic research, can you share insights on how I can successfully transition into academia? How did you develop an independent research program?
- Professional Development – I would like to improve my presentation skills, could you provide feedback on an upcoming presentation I am giving? I have difficulty saying no and it is impacting my research productivity, can I use you as a sounding board to formulate effective but polite ways to say no? Have you ever suffered from imposter syndrome and if so, how did you overcome it?
Additional goals could include:
- Learning to make the transition from academia to a non-academic career.
- Understanding what skills are needed to be competitive for specific careers.
- Determining some clarity over career direction.
- Identify potential roles commensurate with experience.
- Maximizing your confidence to pursue a career in your chosen career.
- Learning from your Mentor’s professional and personal experience and knowledge.
- Establishing or growing your professional network.
- Enhancing or getting feedback on your resume and job search knowledge.
- Challenging your preconceived ideas and beliefs about a specific career path.
- Gaining insights into employment in a specific job sector.
- Identifying experiential learning opportunities, job shadowing, internships, workshops, or fellowships to gain additional career experience in the Mentor’s job sector or field.
Explore
- Mentees should take time to evaluate their strengths and weaknesses to see how discussions with the Mentor can be beneficial. One effective method is to use the Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator, an informal personality assessment. PDCO has certified staff members who can provide these types of assessments which may give insight into your communication or leadership styles. The PDCO offers free assessments and reporting for JHU trainees.
- Reflect on what you enjoy doing. Make a list of ten tasks/activities you perform either in the lab or outside of the lab. Which three do you enjoy most? Which three do you excel at? Understanding if you enjoy data analysis, reading literature, writing or planning events can help you identify the right career path for you or whom to find as a Mentor.
- Familiarize yourself with your mentor’s company, career field and industry by reading books, online content or articles before asking basic questions. Having a base knowledge will result in deeper conversations and learning with your mentor.
- Think about your brand and be able to communicate your strengths effectively. What three adjectives best describe you? (Creative, detail oriented, self-starter). If you need help, ask your PI or lab members what words they would use to describe you. Next – think of concrete examples that SHOW how you demonstrated each quality.
- Mentees can develop an Individual Development Plan (IDP) that assesses skills, career interests, and personal value to help identify career paths of interest. You can develop a free IDP:
Additional Mentoring Resources
The National Research Mentoring Network “provides researchers across all career stages in the biomedical, behavioral, clinical, and social sciences with the evidence-based mentorship and professional development programming that emphasizes the benefits and challenges of diversity, inclusivity and culture.”
Nature Magazine’s collection of resources on mentoring, including podcasts, career columns, feature articles, and blogs.
The National Academies of Science online guide: The Science of Effective Mentorship in STEMM
AddGene’s ebook Are You A Scientist Looking for a Mentor? includes resources and information on finding a Mentor and how to manage the relationship.
The National Postdoc Assocation’s list of scientific societies and other organizations offering mentoring programs and resources.
The JHU PHutures Career Office has compiled several useful videos on mentoring and informational interviewing: