Those in the business industry have long understood the importance of networking and building relationships. In fact, power lunches and networking socials are staples in the lexicon of most successful entrepreneurs, and the art of schmoozing is drilled into the heads of business students as soon as they step foot on their college campus. However, the role of networking and relationship building is often not as clear for psychology students. As a STEM discipline, the commodity for psychologists, particularly in academic settings, is often scholarly accomplishments such as peer-refereed publications, scientific presentations and professional honors. This may give some psychology students the illusion that professional success is solely dependent on their own efforts. While professional productivity is certainly important, it is usually the professional relationships forged along their career path that help to facilitate the productivity and ultimate success of most leading psychologists.
In fact, a glance at the programming of the APA Annual Convention, peppered with various social hours, proves that most successful psychologists have learned to appreciate the importance of networking. It is at these social events that professional collaborations are born, resources are shared and career opportunities are discovered. For psychology students, these events also provide an opportunity to begin to develop and nurture relationships that will help shape the rest of their careers. Psychology’s emerging leaders are often found at these social hours. That means networking with fellow psychology students now could translate into the cultivation of long-term relationships with future discipline leaders later. Clearly, current leading psychologists also attend these functions, which could be intimidating for many students. However, it is important to remember that industry leaders were once students, and many have a desire to mentor and groom the next generation. Of course, these senior psychologists are typically extremely busy, so it would be impossible for them to mentor every student they meet at a convention session or social. Consequently, as a student, it is important to be clear about your networking goals and needs before attending any professional event, and it is imperative that you have a well-defined understanding of the key functions others can serve in your career development.
Many are aware that mentors and mentorship play a key role in the development of most professionals, regardless of discipline. Mentors provide guidance, wisdom, connections and can be a career game changer, particularly for students and early career professionals. However, not all mentor relationships are the same. Some mentors may touch your career for a reason, a season or a lifetime, so it is important to identify the difference. According to Merriam-Webster, a mentor is “someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person” (although younger may refer to age of career not necessarily chronological age). Thus, all mentors will provide some form of assistance, but the amount of advice, length and frequency of contact and type of assistance provided all change the nature of the mentorship relationship.
The mentoring continuum
At the lower end of the mentoring continuum are allies. These may be professors in your program, psychologists that you meet at a conference or workshop or even other students who may have relevant information and/or resources to share. Allies genuinely want to see you do well professionally, so they will freely share whatever relevant resources they may have with you. They will also provide support and encouragement, so it is great to have allies on your team. However, allies typically don’t provide advice or any long-term career guidance. Although you may know an ally for years, their assistance is usually focused and consists primarily of information sharing. Because the contact is typically brief or occurs in truncated spurts, you will likely have many allies. In fact, you can never have too many. Most of the relationships you develop during networking events are likely to be with allies. In order to nurture these relationships, try to make sure the information sharing and support provided are reciprocal (most senior level professionals don’t expect this, but it does help to keep you on their radar). This does not mean the type of support or resources provided will be the same. Professionals usually have more career capital, contacts and resources to share than students do. Students can, however, offer encouragement, emotional support and in some instances, human resources or time in return.
Coaches, unlike allies, do offer advice and guidance, but it is usually specific to a particular task or skill. For example, if you are struggling with a statistics problem or applying to graduate school and could use some guidance, a coach can help. Coaches will work closely with you to accomplish a particular task or milestone, but once the task is complete, the guidance typically ends.
Similar to coaches, the assistance provided by benefactors is also very specific. Instead of providing advice or guidance to help you accomplish a milestone, benefactors offer resources. A benefactor is someone who has the professional capital and means to provide the opportunities necessary to move your career to the next level. Benefactors will offer you an internship or job opportunity, help you secure funding for your thesis project or ask you to write a chapter in their next book. They may or may not offer more general, long-term career advice and guidance. This is usually the job of a career mentor.
When we hear the word “mentor,” many of us are thinking of a career mentor, which is at the highest end of the mentoring continuum. Career mentors will take their mentee under their wing and guide them through the professional challenges they may face along the career path. This very involved relationship includes specific and more general career advice and guidance. Over the course of the relationship, a career mentor may function at every point along the mentoring continuum, sometimes serving as ally, coach and possibly even benefactor. This relationship clearly requires quite a bit of investment from the mentor and mentee, so most people only have one or two true career mentors in their lifetime. If you are lucky, your assigned academic advisor may turn out to be a career mentor or you may find that mentor in your home institution. This does not always happen though, and many students find it necessary to seek out and nurture this relationship among the professionals that they may meet at conventions, workshops or professional social gatherings.
Before attending a professional event or social, identify the type of person you would like to meet and the nature of the relationship you would like to cultivate. If you determine a career mentor is needed, preparation will be required. Identify those prominent psychologists in your area that are expected to attend the event. Approach this initial meeting with your potential mentor as you would an interview. Know enough about the psychologist’s body of work to speak intelligently on the topics. Think about and be prepared to explain why you value his or her expertise and what you would hope to learn. Also, be prepared to discuss the ways in which your work and/or interests align with the psychologist’s work. In other words, what do you bring to the relationship? Finally, take these events seriously; you could be laying the groundwork for a career-long relationship.
Therefore, the next time you are attending a conference and are tempted to skip your division or interest group social hour, remember, it is not just another social. It could be your opportunity to meet a potential ally, benefactor or career mentor, and who can afford to skip that?
About the author
Tiffany Townsend, PhD, who received her doctorate in clinical psychology from George Washington University, is the senior director of the Office of Ethnic Minority Affairs for APA. In this capacity, she directs two professional mentoring programs: the Cyber Mentors Program, funded by NIMH, and the ProDIGS program, funded by the APA Science Directorate’s Academic Enhancement Initiative. Before joining APA, Townsend served as a full-time faculty member in the department of psychiatry at Georgetown University Medical Center.
