Keeping an AuthorAID Mentor: Some Tips

Greetings again. I hope you’re doing well.

Last week, an AuthorAID blog post presented tips on finding an AuthorAID mentor. Once you have a mentor, how can you help ensure that the mentor will want to continue working with you?

Below are some tips in this regard. They are based in part on experience of AuthorAID mentors.

• Request assistance; don’t demand it. Remember that an AuthorAID mentor is a volunteer.
• Be patient. Realize that mentors also have other work. If a mentor hasn’t provided some promised help by an agreed-on date, politely follow up.
• Follow instructions. Don’t be like the mentee who ignored the mentor’s request to show revisions in Track Changes, thus burdening the mentor with extra work.
• Realize that the mentor’s time is limited. Be selective in what you ask the mentor to do. And do as much as you can yourself.
• Follow up. Let the mentor know what happened after you submitted the work. Hearing that work was accepted can be very rewarding to a mentor. And word that it wasn’t accepted can lead to useful discussion of what to do differently next time.
• Show appreciation. Take the time to thank the mentor for the help. If a mentor assisted with a publication, perhaps thank him or her in the acknowledgments.

Following these tips can help retain a mentor. Much easier than looking for a new one!

Do you have tips on being a mentee whom a mentor will want to keep working with? If so, please post a comment.

Until the next post—

Barbara