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No matter what stage you are at in your career, its always good to have a mentor – someone with pertinent experience who can give you support and advice about the job you are in now, and help you make those difficult career decisions, like what to do next.

In "the Odyssey", Mentor is the older friend of Telemachos, son of Odysseus. In the form of Mentor, Athene accompanies the young Telemachos on his journeys. Mentor (Athene) teaches and advises Telemachos in new and difficult situations.

Today, mentoring is defined as a professional relationship between an experienced older person (mentor) and an inexperienced younger person (mentee). The mentor supports, advises, introduces to networks and helps in the understanding of mechanisms and unwritten rules of an organisation. The mentor–mentee relationship is independent of normal superior–subordinate-dependency and is mutual: mentors are also learners.

There is lots of information available on the web and in print to advise you on your career and to help you set up a mentoring programme, to become a mentor or become a mentee. Here are some pointers:

There are also mentoring services specialised for women. You can find links to these on the ELSO CDC page Women in Science