Mentoring: Help With Climbing the Career Ladder

Abstract

Health Promotion Practice July 2006 Vol. 7, No. 3, 289-292 DOI: 10.1177/1524839906289269 ©2006 Society for Public Health Education In the July 2001 issue of this journal, Denard Goldman and Schmalz discussed mentoring in Tools of the Trade. Indeed, mentoring is a tool of the trade. Perhaps, it is one of the more important tools, as it helps to support the career development of our new professionals. Mentoring is not a new tool. It has been around for ages, dating back to Homer’s Odyssey. As the story goes, while Odysseus (aka Ulysses) prepared to go to war with the Trojans, he realized that while he was away fighting, he would need someone to take care of, guide, and advise his young son, Telemachus. So, Odysseus arranged for his son to meet his close friend and advisor, Mentor (Tobin, 2004). Just as Odysseus thought, a relationship developed between Mentor and Telemachus, and as they say, the rest is history. Odysseus’s idea to match an older, wiser, more experienced person with a young, inexperienced one has withstood the test of time. Today, mentoring programs abound. Government agencies and corporations have mentoring programs for new employees. Colleges and universities have mentoring programs for new faculty as well as for new students. In public service professions, such as teaching and nursing, mentoring is becoming more and more commonplace and is often a key element of orientation into these professions (Colley, 2002). Our own organization, SOPHE, has recognized the importance of mentoring and offers it for new professionals, new members, and those first-time attendees at national meetings.