DRAFT - Become a Mentee
Becoming a mentee provides invaluable guidance and support to accelerate your growth by offering tailored career advice and insights into your field. Mentors act as trusted confidants, boosting satisfaction and preparing you for advancement and leadership. These adaptable relationships can be formal or informal, short-term or lifelong, and a network of mentors offers diverse perspectives. By gaining a dedicated advocate invested in your success, becoming a mentee is a powerful step towards elevating your career and expanding your opportunities.
Benefits for Mentees
There are many benefits to being a mentee. Your mentor provide advice on:
- Promotion and tenure preparation
- Ways to ensure patient satisfaction with clinical encounters
- Solutions to prevent faculty burnout or loss of enthusiasm for an academic career
- Learn the culture of your organization
- Solve academic and personal issues
- Scholarship and grant writing
- Develop confidence in teaching, research, or patient care
- Expand your horizons of what’s available at UNMC and within your career
The mentoring process is a two-way street where each individual has their own role. The mentee's role includes:
Goals can include both professional and personal development, such as:
- Rank advancement within 6 years
- Consistent federal research funding
- Leadership roles in regional or national organizations
- Successful balance between work, outside pursuits and family
Having a written agreement between you and your mentor can avoid future conflicts. One of the first things the two of you should discuss is the time commitment involved and each of your expectations.
It is also important to include confidentiality as part of the mentoring agreement. This will allow you to seek counsel and discuss sensitive issues, especially those involving fellow faculty members or leaders. You should confirm there will be no direct feedback to your department chair or other leadership. Review an example of a mentoring agreement.
During the mentoring relationship, both of you need to bring up any concerns about the process or the learning activities as soon as they develop. You should also periodically evaluate the effectiveness of the relationship, and make adjustments as needed before problems become too severe to overcome.
However, if both of you agree your mentoring relationship is not advancing, you should still end on a positive note and express your appreciation for the time spent.
You may have a more successful mentoring experience if you choose someone with the same clinical, educational or research interests, personal characteristics or background.
Email Faculty Affairs or browse our Mentor Directory to find a mentor.
Ready to become a mentee? Fill out the form below.