Resources

Many mentorships are long-distance. Here are some of our best suggestions for getting the most out of your long-distance mentorship.

• Be accountable to one another. Create a call schedule with your Mentor or Protégé. Schedule a series of calls or videoconferences in advance or reserve a specific day of the month to speak. If you are having trouble coordinating schedules, consider creating free accounts on Doodle.com. They can help you identify the best dates and times in your schedule to meet.
• Add structure to your mentorship by creating monthly or quarterly goals to work towards.This will help keep your mentorship on track and moving forward.
• Mentors: consider setting up informational phone interviews for your Protégé with colleagues in your network. This will help your Protégé expand his or her own network while learning about new career fields.
• Protégés: share job postings that you would like to apply to with your Mentor. Review them together to determine if you meet the qualifications. If so, start talking about how you can best represent yourself in a résumé and cover letter.
• Practice interviewing skills together. Conduct mock interviews over the phone or via videoconference. This will provide Protégés with constructive feedback to avoid making common interviewing mistakes. Pairs can also critique interviews on YouTube together, discussing the interviewee’s strengths and weaknesses.
• Network online. Connect on LinkedIn and join groups of mutual interest. You can also follow companies on Twitter to view their most recent job posts. Social media can be a great tool to network and stay informed.
• Mentors: help your Protégé network locally. Check if your company has a satellite office close to where your Protégé lives. Try to set up a “shadow day” for your Protégé with a colleague or department.
• Grab a book. Select a book about management, business or professional development to read together. Check our Recommended Reading List for suggestions. To save on expenses, you can always go to your local library to get started.
• Regularly assess your progress. Each quarter, look back on the progress that you have made together. Are you satisfied with your work? Are there areas to improve upon?
• As always, be honest with one another. Let your Mentor or Protégé know what is working in your mentorship and what you would like to change. The only way to make things better is to communicate your goals and expectations throughout the yearlong mentorship.

Building a solid foundation for your mentorship means establishing trust and communicating openly about your goals, accomplishments and objectives for the future. Use these prompts to start the conversation with your Mentor or Protégé.

Talk About Mentoring

Discuss what it means to be in a mentorship

• Why did you become involved with ACP?
• What does mentoring mean to you?
• Have you ever been in a mentorship before?

Talk About Your Careers

Discuss your career progression

• What professional experience, both civilian and military, do you have?
• What was the career path you took that led to your current role?
• How do you handle professional obstacles or roadblocks?
• What is the best way to obtain and respond to feedback at work?
• What part of your job do you find most challenging?
• What part of your job do you enjoy the most?
• What areas would you like to develop skills in or learn more about?
• What would you say are your best professional skills?
• What skills or competencies do you find that new professionals often lack?
• What are your short-term and long-term goals?

Talk About Your Personal Lives & Interests

Take the time to get to know one another

• Who do you talk to when you need advice?
• How do you deal with criticism?
• How do you stay motivated?
• What books or authors have been influential to you?
• What newspapers and magazines do you read most often?
• What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?
• What are your favorite weekend activities?
• Talk About the Structure of Your Mentorship

Discuss the logistics that will help support your mentorship

• How often do you expect to meet, talk or videoconference?
• Who should take responsibility for initiating meetings?
• What is the best way to get in touch?
• Consider establishing a monthly communication schedule.
• What should the focus of your second meeting be?
• Discuss tangible goals for your “12 significant discussions.”
• What do you hope to gain from your mentorship?

Writing a succinct and informative cover letter is crucial. Hiring managers generally scan through a cover letter, so grabbing their attention immediately can be the key to getting an interview.

Do

• Address the job announcement: Understand the requirements and job details and responsibilities. Cover letters should be specific for the job to which you are applying. One general cover letter will not suffice for multiple, unique roles.
• Speak to the needs of the organization: Start with an opener that shows you understand the industry and can meet their needs. Make specific reference to the company’s mission if appropriate to show that your goals align.
• Highlight key words from the job posting: Your cover letter could be scanned for keywords and dismissed immediately if appropriate words are not included.
• Promise to deliver results: Detail why past experiences and challenges make you the perfect fit for this position. If you’ve overcome specific obstacles to succeed, this is a great place to communicate those experiences.
• Show your passion: With hundreds of applicants to consider, hiring managers are looking for the person who will be enthusiastic and committed to the position and organization.
• Demonstrate why you are that person with concrete examples but avoid over-exaggerating.
• Keep the letter short: Three short paragraphs should cover what you need to say without overwhelming the recipient. Your cover letter should not exceed one page with 12-point font.
• Use traditional formatting: Research sample cover letters to learn where to place various required information, such as your contact information, the hiring manager’s contact information, signature, etc. Be sure to use a professional font, such as Times New Roman or Arial.
• Address your reader: Find out the name of the hiring manager if it is not already included in the posting. Avoid generalized greetings, such as “To Whom It May Concern.”
• Know what you are asking for: State clearly that you are interested in interviewing for the position. Conclude your cover letter with this message to drive home your intentions.
• Thank your reader: Be sure to show your appreciation for their time and consideration.

Don’t

• Reiterate your résumé: Make your cover letter a unique representation of why you are the perfect person for the job.
• Have a boring opening statement: “Please accept my résumé”, and “In response to the position…” will not grab their attention. Express what makes you a unique candidate in the first sentence to hook the reader.
• Ramble: The recipient will look to your résumé for more detail, so make your cover letter is expressive but easy to digest.
• Use jargon: Don’t confuse the recipient by using industry or military lingo. Try to translate your skills to demonstrate why they make you the perfect fit.
• Underestimate the importance of a good cover letter: A bad cover letter can negate a great résumé. Proofreading and customization are essential to making an impression.

Social media tools like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are becoming increasingly helpful to career development. Professionals can use social media platforms as a way to enhance their knowledge of technology, marketing, and news for their industry; network with other professionals; and provide an online space where clients can interact with them and provide feedback about their products or services.

Using Social Media to Find a Job:

Developing an online presence can be helpful to your job search as an increasing number of recruiters are logging on to sites like LinkedIn and Twitter to find potential job candidates. Similarly, many companies use LinkedIn to post job opportunities. Job seekers can view social media platforms as a space for online résumés or as a means to develop a professional online presence that may be attractive to potential employers.

To make the most of your LinkedIn profile during your job search, learn how to leverage your profile during a job search. Similarly, you can find a helpful guide on how to use Twitter to search for a job here.

Social Media Etiquette and Professionalism:

As employers increasingly search for and review employees’ and job candidates’ online profiles, it is especially important to maintain a level of professionalism regarding your online presence and to adhere to proper social media etiquette. Review some helpful tips for maintaining a professional online presence below, and consider removing any unprofessional profiles from the web.

DO:

• Keep your profile pictures tasteful and professional. Choose a photo that you would be comfortable sharing with your professional network.
• Utilize your privacy settings on all social media platforms to control how much of your profile can be viewed by the general public. A guide to Facebook’s privacy settings can be found here or here; Twitter’s can be found here; and LinkedIn’s can be found here.
• Use Twitter and LinkedIn to broaden your professional network. Engage others in conversations about your career and professional interests. For example, if you are interested in education, follow education-related conversations on Twitter via hashtags such as #education and tweet at people who are also within that community and/or industry.
• Use Twitter and Facebook to highlight your work and share it with others, but keep selfpromotion within reason. Be self-aware and share with professionalism and humility.
• Use proper grammar and spelling. Your personal contacts might not judge your grammar, but potential employers and professional contacts probably will.

DO NOT:

• Post disparaging remarks about your current or former employer, colleagues, or company. Be aware that professional contacts within your Twitter and Facebook networks may be able to see everything you post or tweet.
• Spam. Avoid posting repeated status updates and comments within the span of a few hours. Spamming will encourage your contacts to avoid you on social media and will hinder your ability to network.