AACE Mentor Network

Step 1: Complete your myAACE profile & enroll

Complete your myAACE profile:

• Confirm your contact information
• Add a recent professional profile picture
• Expand on your bio
• Share your education and job history

Having a complete and accurate profile is crucial to the success of selection and matching.

By enrolling as a mentor or mentee in the AACE Mentor Network, you agree to the terms and conditions of the program.

The first-time authors program mentoring program is for new technical paper writers whose abstracts have been accepted into the AACE Conference & Expo. If you are a first time author, please follow these steps to connect with an experienced mentor to help you through the technical paper writing process. To participate as a mentor in the first time authors mentoring program, mentors must have previously written technical papers and presented at a prior AACE Conference & Expo. To volunteer to be a mentor for this program, please follow these steps.

Are you looking to become a mentor or mentee? Perhaps both? Sign up:

• Enroll as a mentee
• Enroll as a mentor

Make selections for each of the program demographics to set your preferences. Demographics include: objective of engagement, area(s) of expertise, experience, job level, language, and more.

Step 2: Find a mentor/mentee

Once your profile is created, the next step is getting connected with a mentor or mentee. Mentees will search and then reach out to the mentor. Mentors may also search for mentees to start the connection first!

Search for a potential mentor or mentee by selecting the various profile criteria. Search the whole directory (without selecting specific criteria) to browse all mentors or mentees. All you do is scroll down to the bottom of the mentor/mentee directory search and click "search." Review profiles to find the best fit.

Start by selecting the topic(s) of interest, which include:

• Cost Engineering or Project Controls Experience
• Job Level
• Expertise
• Technical interest areas
• Projects
• Preferred language

You can also take advantage of features to help you find and recruit matches: 

• Track your mentoring relationships
• Participate in discussion forums on mentoring topics
• Search for helpful mentoring resources 

Step 3: Connect! Request a discovery call

Congratulations! You're all set. You are now ready for the fun stuff. Let the mentoring begin. Do one search or multiple searches. If you're unsure of the search criteria, remember you can scroll down to the bottom and click "Search" without selecting any criteria to view everyone. The mentoring directories will do the work for you and populate the results. 

Next click on the member's name that you're interested in establishing a mentor/mentee connection with. The link will bring you to their profile page. Look around. If you think it's a desired match, look under their profile image for the mentor/mentee request ribbon, which, when clicked, will allow you to request a connection. If it's not a desired match, you can simply select the back button to return to your previous search results. 

Both mentors and mentees can send an engagement request. Once the mentor accepts the engagement request, an initial discovery call will need to be scheduled. Please review mentor expectations and mentee expectations before your meeting to learn what is expected of each party. Set up a time and date to meet (in person or virtually). 

Step 4: Introduce yourself

At your initial meeting, take time to introduce yourself. It is important to understand the purpose of the mentoring engagement and to see if the match is a good fit. Use these conversation starters to help you get started.

If either the mentor or the mentee does not think the relationship is a good match, then politely and professionally discuss. If the mentoring relationship does not move forward, return to step 2.

Step 5: Agree on a plan

After both parties establish that the match is a good fit, agree on a plan which will include goal setting, establishing a schedule of meetings (and how to meet), and agreeing on the length of the engagement. A final meeting should be set, and the meeting will include a review of the mentee's accomplished goals and possible future steps.

While it can take some time for the relationship to develop, there may come a time where you feel it isn’t working out. In the unlikely event that happens, you can end the mentoring relationship. The mentee would return to step 2 to re-match online. Please see these tips on how to end the mentoring relationship.

If the relationship is being terminated due to misconduct, please reach out to mentoring@aacei.org so we can address the situation. 

Step 6: Meet as agreed

The mentor and mentee will continue to meet as planned for the time allowed. Be sure to continue to check in with your goal setting at each meeting to see if goals need to be adjusted. If either party is unable to attend a meeting, please let the other person know. Review additional mentoring resources for guidance on how to be a good mentor, tips on how to set goals, and more. 

Step 7: Reflection and assessment

At the end of the engagement, the mentor and mentee should reflect and assess the process together. Were the mentee's goals met? Did the mentor help the mentee meet objectives? Do the parties need to extend the timeline? Should the mentee find another mentor that may be better suited to the mentee's needs or another area of expertise? Did both parties fulfill the expectations of the mentoring engagement?

AACE appreciates your feedback on the program and process. Please complete this survey to share your feedback.

Step 8: Renew agreement or make a new match

The last step in the process is to either end the mentoring engagement or renew the agreement. The mentee may choose to make a new match.

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