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How to Use Mentors to Kick Start Your Academic Career

How to Use Mentors to Kick Start Your Academic Career 1

Whether you’re a postgrad or a new academic, you can’t succeed alone. Colleagues are going to help you on your way: the best will be mentors.

What mentors can do for you:
Mentors can :

  1. Explain things
  2. Advise you
  3. Steer you towards the right projects and people
  4. Tell you when you’re getting it right (and wrong)
  5. And encourage you when things get rough

What kind of person makes a good mentor? Look for someone whose career and character you admire:

  1. Someone you aspire to be like.
  2. Someone who has lots of experience in your field.

Where do you find a mentor?

If you are working in a university now, it should be someone you work with. If you aren’t yet, approach someone you wish you worked with.

Help with finding a mentor

Many universities and some professional associations have formal mentoring schemes. Be ready with your own suggestions for who you’d like to work with.

More ways mentors can help

Mentoring is mostly about your academic career, but the best mentors can advise you on personal issues that may affect it: like being a parent or a disabled person. Your mentor may also be the perfect person to ask for a reference.

Return the favour

Offer to help your mentor with a project or tell them about research that’s under the radar. And make sure you pass it forward someday by helping new colleagues.

You may also find the following articles of interest:

Top Questions To Ask Your Mentor

Networking: How to Maximize Opportunities and Boost Your Career Connections

Taking the Next Steps in your Career

We are currently advertising a wide range of professional mentor roles.


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