Postdoc Guidelines: Step 2

Consult with your primary faculty mentor to determine who might be good candidates to serve on your mentoring team.

Every postdoc is expected to build relationships with faculty members and professionals other than his or her primary faculty mentor. To help you build initial relationships, consult with your primary faculty mentor to identify two faculty members or professionals in addition to your primary faculty mentor to serve as members of your mentoring team. In some cases, a school may assign faculty representatives to serve this role for the school’s postdoc community. If this is the practice in your school, your primary faculty mentor will introduce you to these individuals. If not, we recommend that you discuss with your primary faculty mentor who might be well suited to serve on your mentoring team.

These individuals should be accessible to you, knowledgeable in your area of research, and complement your career goals. Take the initiative and help your primary faculty mentor to identify who might be able to contribute to your scientific and professional development, especially if you are interested in a career outside of academia.

It will be your primary faculty mentor’s responsibility to help you initiate contact with the members of your mentoring team, however after that, you will be responsible for developing and managing your relationships with these two individuals. Establish a pattern of communicating that fits your needs and accommodates your mentoring team members’ schedules and preferences. Your primary faculty mentor will be seeking feedback from your mentoring team members, at least quarterly, with regard to your scientific and professional maturation.

You are to identify the members of your mentoring team on your Career Development Plan and these members may change during the course of your training as needed or as necessary. Do not limit your interactions to only those who are officially designated as part of your mentoring team; use these individuals to help you meet other colleagues and develop additional mentoring relationships so that you cultivate a rich network of support during your postdoctoral training.

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