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We all need mentors, whether in military or civilian life. By finding
and cultivating suitable people as mentors, you will tilt the scales in
favor of finding a successful second career. It is this type of sponsorship
that will ensure that you stand out from the crowd.
A good mentor is a coach, always challenging you, inspiring you and demanding
that you do your best. Mentors can improve confidence and lead to job
opportunities you had not considered. They are familiar with a range of
professional opportunities and are guides who have put aside self-preoccupation
to foster the growth of new professionals.
The best mentors help develop the insight and self-awareness that assist
with integrating professional life, military life, personal concerns and
core values.
How do you start?
Discovering and cultivating a good mentor isn't easy for the transitioning
service member. You should pick someone in the civilian world whom you
would like to emulate - someone who excites you and gets you going and
with whom you feel comfortable.
Mentors are people with whom you can share triumphs, defeats and new ideas,
receiving in turn guidance, a nonjudgmental audience and constructive
criticism.
Take the initiative and approach the individual whom you think would make
a good mentor. Consider exactly what skills you can learn from them.
Look for mentors in areas that will be relevant to your second career
and who will provide a reality check. Find someone who has experience
in your chosen career field and is in touch with the real world. Evaluate
the potential mentor: is he or she encouraging and respectful of your
goals? Do you receive regular feedback? Does your mentor facilitate your
participation in organizations and committees, help you stretch? Does
you mentor make professional connections for you? Can you communicate
easily with your mentor? Do you respect them?
Where do you find them?
Professionals do not walk around with badges identifying themselves as
future mentors. Be enterprising about finding and keeping mentors. In
today's thinned ranks, high-ranking mentors can be hard to come by. Cast
a wider net. Aggressiveness might provoke resentment. People who use you
for their own benefit abuse you. Differences in age matter, too. A difference
of eight to 15 years is best. For women, a word of caution: A good male
mentor should challenge you and urge you to make bold strides rather that
timid little steps. He should give you the same advice he would give a
man.
The best mentors help develop the insight and self-awareness that assist
with integrating professional life, military life, personal concerns and
core values. It may be worth the effort to find other women as mentors.
They can provide tips on the specific career problems such as the "good
old boys" barriers, sexism and sexual harassment.
Don't rely on one mentor; no individual can supply all the guidance you
need. Old-style mentoring has been replaced by the need to build constituencies.
Just as you have to manage your own second career, you have to create
your own board of advisers. The best way to find multiple mentors is to
join and attend professional organizations, networking with as many people
as you can.
What will you gain?
Mentors provide specific practical information regarding their profession:
entry requirements, opportunities for advancement and employment outlook.
They can share their understanding of personal characteristics for success
in the field, important issues facing the profession, personal rewards
and sources of frustration. Most importantly, mentors can relate a personal
account of their own career path from military life to civilian life.
Expand your universe - gain real-life information about potential career
fields, personal contacts with working professionals and interviewing
experience in a non-threatening atmosphere. Consider career counseling
from a professional whose experience includes both transitioning military
and civilian job seekers.
Doris
Appelbaum is Founder and President of Appelbaum's Resume Professionals,
Inc. She is an international career consultant, resume writer, speaker,
and trainer. Fax or email resume for FREE critique. Doris can be reached
at (414) 352-5994 - 1-800-619-9777 - dorisa@execpc.com
- (414) 352-7495 (fax). Visit the company’s website http://www.appelbaumresumes.com.
Listen to Career Quest every Sunday at noon on AM 540 in Wisconsin
and Illinois.
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