{"id":23746,"date":"2014-03-17T13:00:22","date_gmt":"2014-03-17T18:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=23746"},"modified":"2014-03-16T11:55:34","modified_gmt":"2014-03-16T16:55:34","slug":"on-being-a-good-mentee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=23746","title":{"rendered":"On Being a Good Mentee"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Ashley Crace, former Head Editor, INALJ West Virginia<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

On Being a Good Mentee<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

\"AshleyCrace1\"<\/a>A mentor\u2019s expertise is priceless<\/b>.\u00a0 During graduate school, your job search, or your first years as a librarian or information professional a mentor can provide vital guidance and support.\u00a0 Mentors may be found among professors, internship or volunteer supervisors, colleagues, and through structured mentor programs in professional associations.\u00a0 I was very fortunate to find my wonderful mentor in another student and co-fellow in my MLIS program.<\/p>\n

However, this post is not about how to find a mentor; rather, it is about being a good mentee.\u00a0 There are many qualities and skills that are valuable in a mentee, but I\u2019ve narrowed these down to the three qualities and skills that I have found most important as a mentee.<\/p>\n

A good mentee should:<\/b><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Listen<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/b>Listening is a skill.\u00a0 It is one that can and should be practiced.\u00a0 And who better to practice with than your mentor?\u00a0 A mentor is providing insight and guidance for free and deserves the respect\u00a0 of a mentee who really<\/i> listens.<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Learn to take constructive criticism<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/b>Taking criticism is easier said than done.\u00a0 If you really want to improve, you need to learn to take\u00a0 constructive criticism, apply it, and be better for it.\u00a0 Don\u2019t take constructive criticism personally.\u00a0\u00a0 A suggestion that you refine your resume is not an attack on you as a person; it just means that you should refine your resume.\u00a0 Learning to\u00a0 take constructive criticism will help you make the most of your mentor\/mentee relationship; it will also make you more empathetic and skillful when giving criticism to someone else, now or in a future position.<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Express gratitude<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        You are (or should be) grateful for your mentor\u2019s guidance. Have you communicated your gratitude?\u00a0 Say thank you, send thank you cards, be sincere, and remember that this is a reciprocal relationship.\u00a0 Your mentor may ask for and value your input, feedback, and support.<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        previously published on 5\/21\/13<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        by Ashley Crace, former Head Editor, INALJ West Virginia On Being a Good Mentee A mentor\u2019s expertise is priceless.\u00a0 During graduate school, your job search, or your first years as a librarian or information professional a mentor can provide vital guidance and support.\u00a0 Mentors may be found among professors, internship or volunteer supervisors, colleagues, and…<\/p>\n

        Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29285,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[145],"tags":[69,4176,3592,3595,4413,4412],"class_list":["post-23746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-article","tag-ashley-crace","tag-blog","tag-inalj-west-virginia","tag-mentee","tag-mentor"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/AshleyCrace1.png","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1WoMK-6b0","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23746"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23746\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/29285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}