We have a few ground rules in place and tips to help you have a positive experience in the program. As a protégé, we ask you to:

 

1. Keep your contact information and profile current

            Seems basic, but your email address must be current for your mentor or eMentor staff to be able to contact you. Also, your profile information is used by the system’s matching software to offer you suggested mentors. You will get the most accurate match results if your profile is up-to-date. As a rule of thumb, we ask you to review your profile for needed updates at least once every six months.

 

2. Invite a Mentor, Ask a Question, or Join a Group or a Discussion Forum

            It is important to understand that you will not be assigned a mentor. Our program allows you to search for and select your own mentor. And you have three other options for getting advice:

 

• Q&A: Use the Q&A feature to ask a question of everyone participating in the program. As participants respond, you will be notified by email.

• Groups or Public Connections: Mentoring Groups are created by the program administrator (by request) around a particular topic or issue. A mentor leads the group and any eligible participant may join (some groups restrict membership to a particular rank range or professional community) and engage in a small group discussion on the posted topic.

• Discussion Fora: Anyone can join a discussion forum to ask questions or comment on the discussion forum’s topic. Some discussion fora are based on a demographic: all Navy E9s, for example.

 

3. Communicate Frequently/Consistently

            Once paired with a mentor, the expectation is that you will exchange emails regularly (2-4 times monthly on average) and respond to a mentor email within THREE WORKING DAYS. And most important is that you first agree with your mentor on how and how often you will communicate (phone/skype/email/chat) and then follow through on the plan. We cannot overemphasize the importance of regular communication to creating a bond and getting results.

 

4. Use Our Protégé Handbook 

            We have compiled an excellent handbook for protégés that is full of useful tips and best practices to make the most of your online mentoring relationship. Each subject is handled very succinctly so that you can get the information you need in minutes. You can access the Protégé Handbook online in the “Quick Links” on the left sidebar on your home page once you are logged in.

 

5. Stay in Touch with Us

            This is a very “high touch” program and our eMentor staff are here to serve you! If you have a problem or question, you can always contact us directly and we will respond promptly. Particularly if you are having problems pairing with a mentor or experience problems after you have been paired, please let us know. We are standing by to personally assist you!

 

1. Don't Get Discouraged and Be Persistent

             Sometimes mentors do not respond to an invitation to join a relationship. This can be because:

1) the mentor is deployed and does not have access to the internet/the eMentor system to accept/decline the invite.

2) the mentor has changed email addresses and forgotten to let us know (so she did not receive the invite)

3) sometimes mentors have every intention of responding, but are too busy and in their delay to respond lose track of the invitation or

4) sometimes the mentor is unsure if she is a good match, so also delays responding.

We highly discourage this kind of response delay as it can leave the protégé feeling a sense of rejection. If you do not receive a response to your invitation, you can select the “Mentors” tab from your home page, search for your selected mentor by name using the quick search window on the upper left side of your screen (Filter Mentors area) and then selecting “send message” once inside your selected mentor’s profile. If you still do not get a response, send a message to your program manager/admin by selecting the “Contact admin” link in the upper right part of the screen. She can find out if the mentor has received your request and/or help you select another mentor. You can also simply search for and select a new mentor. It is not uncommon to have to select several mentors before connecting successfully. Don’t take it personally and don’t give up!

 

2. Have the Courage to Communicate Honestly

             Knowing how bad it can feel when a mentor fails to respond to your invitation, it can feel just as bad when the protégé stops responding to her mentor. If you feel your relationship is either not going well or you simply feel like the relationship is complete, make sure to thank your mentor for her time and let her know you would like to end the relationship. If you are unwilling or unable to take this step you are welcome to contact your program manager/admin (“Contact Admin” link) and she will contact the mentor for you. Please do not simply stop responding to the mentor and let the relationship lapse.

 

3. Let us Know if you Need Help

             We are always ready to help you if you have problems or questions about the program. We will help you find mentors, set up mentoring groups, initiate new discussion fora, and assist you with anything else you may encounter while participating in the program including difficulties encountered in a relationship. Please also let us know if you are having any connectivity issues with your paired mentor or if you would like us to send you some mentor suggestions. We understand that sometimes when you are deployed you may not be able to access the eMentor Portal; if you find yourself in this situation please let us know and we will send you mentor profiles to choose from and you can connect with a mentor outside the system. We are committed to your to have a great experience with this program!