MarxSchmarx
25th June 2011, 03:03
So there is this person (a young adult) that I have mentored for almost a year, teaching them the tools of my trade and making introductions for them and showing them the proverbial ropes.
In my area, there is a formal credentialing process that people have to go through to proceed along. Recently I heard that this person has had quite a few setbacks in the credentialing process, and has brought up to me how it isn't so much a lack of expertise as it is their anxiety and other issues that aren't related to competence.
I'm somewhat stumped as to what to tell them. I myself wasn't as driven so if my credentials got cut off at some point I probably would have abandoned the field altogether. I'm genuinely torn between being encouraging and telling them to adopt a come what may attitude versus acknowledging their setback and trying to be constructive with that setback in the center stage.
I mean, it would be great if I could say say something like "let the credential issuers see you for who you are and become aware of what you already know". But I know it's not that simple, and that's not really helpful advice. In our area, there are fairly well-defined, common and competition-based measures used in our field and if you come up short on them early on (as the person I've been mentoring has), that often means the authorities won't let you proceed despite your other, potentially considerable strengths. Their ambitions haven't been quashed yet, but they are very real setbacks
So would comrades have any suggestions on what advise to give? Perhaps you've been in a similar situation yourself - if so, what are some strategies you've used so that you don't freak out and end up being, as this person put it, their "own worst enemy"?
In my area, there is a formal credentialing process that people have to go through to proceed along. Recently I heard that this person has had quite a few setbacks in the credentialing process, and has brought up to me how it isn't so much a lack of expertise as it is their anxiety and other issues that aren't related to competence.
I'm somewhat stumped as to what to tell them. I myself wasn't as driven so if my credentials got cut off at some point I probably would have abandoned the field altogether. I'm genuinely torn between being encouraging and telling them to adopt a come what may attitude versus acknowledging their setback and trying to be constructive with that setback in the center stage.
I mean, it would be great if I could say say something like "let the credential issuers see you for who you are and become aware of what you already know". But I know it's not that simple, and that's not really helpful advice. In our area, there are fairly well-defined, common and competition-based measures used in our field and if you come up short on them early on (as the person I've been mentoring has), that often means the authorities won't let you proceed despite your other, potentially considerable strengths. Their ambitions haven't been quashed yet, but they are very real setbacks
So would comrades have any suggestions on what advise to give? Perhaps you've been in a similar situation yourself - if so, what are some strategies you've used so that you don't freak out and end up being, as this person put it, their "own worst enemy"?