Copy of Modeling Professional Behavior

Remember that in between Lesson 3 and Lesson 4, you will conduct an interview with at least one person. This could be about a particular academic or career interest. Or you could speak with an adult about their own experiences with mentoring.

Let’s say you’re able to identify a potential mentor, and you reach out to set up a meeting (maybe you even used your networking skills to do this!). They agree, and you’re about to meet in person to talk about a shared interest.

How can you communicate engagement and make a good first impression? How can you make it more likely that an adult will want to provide you with mentorship on an ongoing basis (rather than just one time)?

Identifying whether behavior is “professional” versus “unprofessional” can be tricky, because professional behavior can vary widely across cultures. In this course, we’ll focus on examples of behaviors that tend to be considered polite and professional on most college campuses in the United States. However, it’s important to recognize that these are just guidelines and that things like dress, language, and behavior often shift across different contexts and cultures.