The person who knows your goals, needs, and passions best is you. Take a few minutes to reflect
on the following questions. Jotting down answers to this self-appraisal will help you assess what
you have to offer, and need from, your mentoring relationships.
For a more specific tool to
help you assess your strengths and weaknesses and to identify opportunities and obstacles, see
Worksheet 2, Strategies for success in mentoring: Personal evaluation.
What are my goals for graduate school and beyond?
- What connects my prior experiences and my decision to go to graduate school?
- What do I hope an advanced degree will help me do?
- What type of training do I desire and what skills do I need to develop?
- What kinds of research or creative projects do I want to work on?
- What type of career do I want to pursue?
- What kinds of networks might I need to develop?
- What work or training experiences inside and outside my department might I need?
- How do I want my learning to impact communities beyond the university?
What are my strengths and weaknesses?
- What skills do I bring to graduate study (e.g., creative, analytical, organizational, etc.)?
- What skill areas do I need to work on?
- What experiences might help me strengthen my skills?
What is my preferred work style?
- Do I like to work independently or collaboratively, or some combination of both?
- Do I like to manage meetings with an agenda, or do I prefer to let priorities emerge
during meetings?
- How does my work style help or occasionally prevent me from learning?