The WSJ has a little Q&A about how to handle the sitch of a not so great mentor. Since mentor/mentee (use whatever internal buzzword that applies) relationships seem to be ubiquitous in accounting firms we thought that this may be of some interest to you.
More, after the jump
We, personally, cannot fathom an instance where any of you would go out and find yourself a mentor that you wouldn’t burn the town with but maybe you don’t get to make that choice. Or, maybe, since accountants seem to be gluttons for punishment, you picked a mentor that you thought would help your career and it turned out to be a HUGE MISTAKE.
If you’re not choosing your own mentors then it’s an absolute certainty that there have been scores of awkward and borderline inappropriate encounters experienced by you.
Or maybe we’re dead wrong and mentoring just involves spending exorbitant amounts of your firm’s money on U2 tickets and bottle service. Either way, discuss your awesome exploits with your mentors or your complete nightmare, creep-out sessions.
I have not had a mentor i the Big 4 setting yet, but this is my take on it. Often, we look for people who are much more senior than us to guide us. What ends up happening though is that these people have forgotten exactly what it feels like being in our shoes. Even though we have guidance for where we need to go in the long run, sometimes we are left unsure of what our next step should be.
In the WSJ article the woman is upset because her mentor is only a level above her, but I think this is a good situation to be in. Her mentor must have been in her shoes recently so must know what she is feeling and what guidance she needs to succeed. That is how I look at it anyway.
bottle service?? are you kidding me??
this is a recession.
we don’t even have a charge code to expense a mentor/mentee lunch anymore!!!!!!!
i had a mentor while i was interning and this guy was a total douchebag. he never gave me any advice other than “be punctual” and “work hard”. he had no clue what he was doing and it was pretty obvious he was getting nowhere in the company. once i asked him if i could leave half an hour early (he was also of the ppl i reported to) cuz there was absolutely no work to do and he told me “just sit tight at your desk till 5PM, this will teach you discipline which will help you become an effective employee”. fuckin dumbass.