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You Are in Charge of Your (Career) Success!
November 17 2014 4:39 PM ET — via RheumReports
At an ACR session Monday called "Strategies for Academic Success: Roadmap from Mentee to Mentor" several concepts were discussed. Mentoring is different from advising, since the latter is typically dispassionate. Mentoring is a nurturing relationship where the mentee has goals such as promotion, career success and personal growth, and the mentor's goals include success of the mentee, program growth, and development of a colleague.
A mentee should write a statement of career goals, be clear on expectations, take advantage of opportunities presented by their mentor (gold mine potentially to launch or advance your career), be an advocate, and consider the advice offered from the mentor (i.e., be open-minded).
A contract of expectations may help develop ground rules, benchmarks for evaluation of success, frequency of meetings, etc. Have a respectful, professional relationship with confidentiality. It is OK to say "No" and discuss your needs and wants. Ask for specific feedback.
Time management strategies were discussed by Leena Sharma. This extends beyond organization, and includes how to fill and use time to live life with meaning and fulfillment in the face of uncertainty. Using templates can reduce stress, and being calm may improve your quality of life.
Early career decisions should be focused and don’t say "Yes" too often. For both work and personal roles, define what is important to you. Do NOT allow what is not important to take away what is important to you. Remember everytime you say "yes" to one thing you are by default saying "no" to something else.
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About the Author
Dr. Janet Pope
Dr. Janet Pope is Professor of Medicine at Western University and Division Head of Rheumatology. Dr. Pope's research interests include epidemiologic studies in scleroderma, classification criteria in systemic sclerosis, systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis.
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