Generous, Kind & Firm Posted on November 21, 2007 Andrew A. Nierenberg (bio) talks about the qualities to look for in a mentor.

The most important thing for people who are starting out in this field to think about is that they need to be in a place where there is a critical mass of people who are doing the work that they’re interested in. They need to have a good mentor, and there are lots of quality of mentors that they should look into.

So somebody who is personable, somebody who is really interested in their career, not just interested in forwarding their own interests. Someone who will help them develop their interests, be able to focus on it.

It’s very helpful if someone has a database that they’re willing to share and to essentially hand over to somebody, help them think about it, help them to write reviews, give them opportunities to write chapters, give them opportunities to also be able to write their own reviews of papers that come to the mentor.

So it really has to be somebody who is generous, who’s kind, who’s firm about being able to help them find a direction and really is willing to put in the time to give them the guidance.

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