In our newest "how can we help you?" thread, a reader asks:
I'm between a grad program and a job, in a post-doc. In my grad program, I had great mentorship and guidance; in my post-doc, I have neither. I feel very adrift and mostly alone. (This may echo what others say about jobs that are not near other universities).
Maybe I feel like mentorship and guidance would be helpful for me at this point, and I don't know where to find it. There is also general loneliness, but that may be distinct. I've been trying to read and stay up to date on the field, and keep writing to stay engaged. It's all been moderately helpful, but I wonder if others have tips as to how to navigate this in-between phase? Maybe even how to stay motivated on the job market when no mentor seems to "have your back"?
I'm sorry this reader is dealing with this, but these are excellent questions that hopefully we can help with!
One thing that I did earlier in my career was apply for a 2 week NEH summer seminar, which was fantastic. I got to meet quite a few other early-career folk there, along with a few accomplished senior members of the profession who I developed helpful mentoring relationships with. While, to be honest, a lot of my early-career experience involved learning to stand on my own two feet, as it were, finding my own way without much guidance (something that I think is probably inevitable for a lot of early-career people), I will say that their mentorship was incredibly helpful at crucial times in my development and on the job-market. So, I'd definitely recommend applying to summer programs/institutes.
Does anyone else have any helpful tips or experiences to share?
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