Mentor Match

Why should I be a mentor?
The process of mentoring is as rewarding for the mentor as the mentee. You are able to use your experience in a new way and contribute to the success of someone working in the very same field you are. Additionally, you may learn something new yourself!

Why should I be a mentee?
Everyone from time to time needs someone to guide them – someone whom they can bounce ideas off of and learn from someone else’s experience. Being a mentee is a very non-intimidating experience where a person can actually admit faults and failures in a safe environment – while gaining insights and direction to help them improve.

How do I know if I have the right background to be a mentor?
If you have at least 5 years of health care supply chain experience, you should be able to assist a supply chain peer who is newer to the job. In many ways a closer gap in experience is beneficial because you can still remember some of the same things they might be experiencing. The best match for a mentee is not always the person with the most years’ experience or highest level title, it’s someone who can relate to the person and help them move their career forward. Everyone is shaped by their experiences. This is the time to use those experiences (both good and some not so good) to help others.

My current position has a narrow scope of focus. Does it still make sense for me to be a mentor?
Yes! You may have past experiences that can help with your participation or, sometimes, it’s just the experience of looking at a problem from all angles that mentees need help with. Additionally, since the program is open to all AHRMM members, there may be a mentee request from someone with a similar scope.

I am very busy, and just don’t think I have the time to be a mentor.
People are very busy these days, but mentoring doesn’t take that much time and the process is likely to help the mentor as well as the mentee. The program has been structured so that the time commitment and the timeframe commitment are both reasonable and flexible for anyone who wants to be a mentor.

What methods of communication do you use to mentor?
Any and all should work, but you always need to consider the problem/purpose for the communication and choose the most appropriate delivery method. More complex issues are probably best discussed via a scheduled telephone call, while simple quick inquiries can be handled with email. After some time, the communication between mentor and mentee will become more refined and you will both get an understanding of the preferred communication methods. We all learn and communicate a little differently – finding someone who not only has the experiences to be of help, but also someone who communicates like you is the perfect match!

I would like to be both a mentor and mentee. Is that an option?
Yes, just go in and complete both forms and you can be set up for both. If done right, the experience on both sides can be a benefit to everyone. I would like to sign up to be mentored, but I am so new to the field I worry about where to start. The mentoring program is designed to help all levels of experience in the healthcare supply chain field. Your level of experience will be matched appropriately to a mentor so that if you are new to health care supply chain, you are matched with someone with more experience, but not so much that they can’t relate to your situations.