As the saying goes: Reading thousands of books is not as good as traveling thousands of miles, and traveling thousands of miles is not as good as enlightenment from famous teachers. Choosing a mentor is a big question - choosing a mentor should not be done hastily. Choosing a suitable supervisor can make your life as a postgraduate student more efficient. Its importance is no less than that of on-the-job graduate students reviewing and preparing for exams. However, most of the tutors are unknown or unfamiliar to you before you apply for the exam. How can you choose a tutor that suits you? How can we achieve information symmetry so that our own interests are not harmed? This requires us to do enough homework in advance and collect as much information as possible about the tutor you are applying for. The best source of information is your future senior brothers and sisters, or students in this college. The more information you have, the less unnecessary trouble you will have when studying for graduate school in the future. In fact, the mentor group is very complicated. Let’s first understand the mentor group in detail. It will be much easier to choose a suitable mentor. According to the impression in the minds of ordinary people, tutors are divided into three categories: academic, practical and comprehensive tutors. The former are more traditional university professors, while the practical tutors are more likely to be in science and engineering colleges. These tutors are generally engaged in practical work. The development of scientific research projects or market projects, through R&D, guides students to publish papers, apply for patents, etc. In fact, if broken down, academic tutors can also be divided into administrative types and purely academic types based on their identity, research direction, and actual work direction. As for the practical tutors, according to the author's understanding, it is more appropriate to classify them according to the identity of the tutors themselves, that is, the tutors are professors in universities or senior engineers in research institutes. Practical Tutors As the name suggests, the characteristic of practical tutors is that they do not stop at theoretical research, but pay more attention to making achievements and cultivating students through practical projects. The composition of practical mentors is a bit complicated, and basically includes all "mentors", including academicians, professors, associate professors, lecturers, and even mentors from some research units and engineers from companies. Their unique characteristic is that they do not stay in theory, but rely more on actual projects to achieve success. Although their identities vary, practical mentors can be divided into three categories based on their identity: The first category: mentors who undertake large-scale national projects. This type of tutors includes tutors from universities and research institutes. They usually have high academic level and scientific research capabilities, and have a high reputation in the industry. They can obtain special national funding for the development of large and medium-sized projects. One of the advantages of working under such a mentor is that you have ample opportunity to be exposed to the development process of large projects. Although the tutor may not have enough time to guide everyone's master's thesis, at this time, it may be the tutor's PhD to guide you in the project or thesis, and it may be more practical to learn practical things. The second type: Lecturers who undertake important projects but do not have the formal qualifications to recruit masters, also known as "associate tutors". Among these lecturers, the academic level and professional ability are uneven. The main problem is that because the working hours are relatively short, there is not enough time to improve their reputation, so it may be difficult to get national projects, and more of them have to look for it outside. Projects are then given to students to work on. In fact, this type of tutor is not very different from the first type of tutor mentioned above. It just means that one of the projects is national and the other is social application, and each has its own advantages. From the author's point of view, the second type may be more conducive to improving students' practical ability than the first type, because the second type is closer to the development of actual products and may be more helpful for finding a job in the future. Students are lucky if they meet such a tutor. After all, what students care most about is whether they can learn knowledge and master a survival skill. However, it should be noted that some lecturers are slightly inferior in academic level and business ability. For them, they are still unable to guide masters. If they are not able to guide students after giving the project to the students, this will have a negative impact on the project and the students. They are irresponsible to their students. Fortunately, there are very few such tutors. The third type: senior engineers of the company. This situation is more common in certain majors, such as computers, communications and other majors, but occurs less frequently in other majors. There are many tutors who are professors or associate professors in school and are responsible for training graduate students. They also have another identity, that is, they have their own company outside or work as engineers or leaders in other companies. For master's students, this type of tutor has a certain a special attraction. First of all, engineers are technical talents of units or companies, and their work content is closely integrated with actual production. Students guided by engineers can learn many specific professional skills, which is a good way for students who are about to enter the society. exercise.
Secondly, the engineers within the unit or company are our learning resources, and their experience is a treasure trove of learning for us. As long as we can learn from our seniors with an open mind, we can learn a lot of valuable experience and professional skills, which will be beneficial to our profession. Literacy helps a lot. Finally, the subsidies for internships in units or companies are generally larger than those given by schools and the state, which is considered a good treatment for students. Therefore, students who can become such tutors are relatively lucky. When many tutors do not have any good projects, or when students have more free time, many students are looking for internships in companies and units. Therefore, students who can become such tutors are relatively lucky. For many tutors who do not have any good projects, or when students have more free time, many students are looking for internships in companies and units. Generally, students will choose a company or unit related to their major to intern, pay a certain amount of remuneration, then collect thesis materials and data in the unit or company, and finally complete the thesis directly in the unit or company. The author has a senior sister who is interning in a foreign company and writing papers. Not only has her spoken foreign language been well practiced, but her professional foreign language has also made great progress in such a superior learning environment. While learning and growing, she has also proved her ability. ability, and was eventually hired by this foreign company. Academic tutors, administrative and academic tutors, as the name suggests, have some administrative positions in schools or research units, but in addition to these positions, they often hold academic positions in related majors part-time. This type of tutors are quite well-known in the professional field. Many of them have experience studying abroad, and their academic abilities and academic standards have been unanimously recognized. For example, the deans and directors of colleges are often also graduate tutors, and students also take the postgraduate entrance examination. Check out these mentors often. But when studying for graduate school, we can’t just look at the reputation of the tutor. We pay more attention to whether such tutors personally guide graduate students, or how they guide graduate students. Because these kind of tutors have multiple jobs and many projects, they are very tight on time and rarely personally supervise master's students. Generally, tutors will base their research on the direction they are engaged in. Some more humane tutors may also consult with you about your personal interests and practical level, and then formulate a training plan. In normal times, senior doctoral or master's seniors will be able to guide the students' practical work. Work, hold group meetings regularly, listen to students' reports at the group meetings, and then make comments and next steps. Although on the surface it seems that there are not many opportunities to contact these famous mentors, if you put yourself in the mentor's shoes and analyze it, the mentors are indeed very busy and cannot guide you in every detail. They can only provide general direction guidance. Most of the rest have to rely on their own efforts, as the saying goes, "The master leads the door, and the practice lies with the individual." On the other hand, studying with these brothers and sisters can often improve yourself, because they have all grown up from your current stage. You know what you need to learn at this stage and how to improve yourself, and it’s easier to ask them questions. If you have any questions, you can ask them directly, so this is also a good thing. In addition, an important advantage of applying for this type of tutor is that administrative tutors are well-known in the industry due to their positions, have contacts with many relevant units, and usually have cooperative relationships or participate in reviews. These are very useful for students looking for It can be considered a hidden advantage in terms of work. It is worth mentioning that if the tutor has experience studying abroad, he will usually have cooperative relationships with foreign universities or companies. If his foreign language level or academic ability meets the requirements, he will have more opportunities to apply to study abroad. Academic-led mentors are often “stars” in the academic circle. They often participate in some international and domestic academic conferences and often publish papers or articles in core journals. They are generally well-known experts in the industry, with many projects in hand, and some are in charge. Some are unknown, and their main work is teaching and projects. They are doers and have many projects in hand. Generally speaking, these types of tutors are mainly interested in academics and often hold some academic positions part-time, such as part-time professors and members of academic research committees. There are relatively few who also hold administrative positions. These tutors usually directly supervise students themselves, or guide master's students through their own doctoral students. If your interests are inconsistent with those of the tutor, the tutor will also modify the training plan for you according to your requirements, or personally introduce you to some associate tutors. . Generally speaking, if you study under this kind of tutor, your academic level will definitely be guaranteed, and you will be busy with endless projects. As long as you have the energy and ability, you can earn enough living expenses from the projects, which is also quite attractive.
In addition, the cooperation between well-known tutors and local or research units is generally relatively stable. If you are assigned to follow a local unit or research unit to do projects, if you perform well, it is very likely that you will stay in the job. Such tutors generally have experience studying abroad, have relatively stable cooperative relationships with foreign countries, and are more likely to recommend students to study abroad. However, some tutors who are academically accomplished but lacking in practice may have difficulties in finding a job. There are also tutors whose research fields are too specialized and require a strict professional and knowledge structure. Although their employment opportunities are relatively narrow, their employment channels are usually relatively stable. Therefore, when applying, everyone should comprehensively consider these objective factors based on their own circumstances. Comprehensive tutors The types of tutors basically belong to a normal distribution. Administrative tutors and academic tutors account for the minority. Most of the middle tutors are comprehensive tutors. Some of these tutors are more academic, some are more business managers, and some are more business managers. Administration, etc., but since the boundaries are not as clear as the previous two types of tutors, and the number of them is relatively large, it is necessary to classify these comprehensive tutors, which account for the majority. An American scholar, Yewdell JW, classified project leaders into nine types in Nature Reviews (Molecular Cell Biology), namely: Big Talker, Slave Driver, Demi God, and Controller. (Control Freak), Science Wonk, Laid-Back, Psycho, Small Town Grocer, Rising Star. The Demi God is similar to the administrative mentor, and the Science Wonk can be understood as an academic mentor, but they are not exactly the same. Here I will use the above terms to classify and summarize comprehensive tutors. First: Slave Driver type tutors generally have many projects, and the requirements of the tutors are relatively strict. They attach great importance to students' studies and papers. On the one hand, it is for their own papers, and on the other hand, it is also to complete the projects. Some projects It is also profitable. There is an advantage to studying under this kind of mentor: "You will have endless experiments and projects, and endless literature." Through the tutor's devilish training, your professional foundation will be very solid, your ability to read literature will also be very high, and you will have certain advantages in finding a job. The downside: “You’ll be so busy that you can’t even remember your girlfriend’s (or boyfriend’s) name.” Therefore, if you "accidentally" encounter such a mentor, you must pay attention to physical exercise, otherwise you will "collapse before you start, and your mother will burst into tears." Second: Small Town Grocer type of tutors are very interested in their own research fields and have certain achievements in their own fields. They can generally apply for projects through their own majors and basically "use this" in the future. "Making a living", studying with this kind of mentor can help you learn a wealth of knowledge in a field that he is familiar with, but that's all. Such tutors are not concerned about other fields, have no ambition, and lack pursuit, which will also make them gradually fall behind, their knowledge structure is aging, and the phenomenon of resting on their laurels is serious. When doing projects, they usually cooperate with other peers and are responsible for some topics. Therefore, if you accidentally choose this kind of tutor, it is best to keep a clear mind and lay a good professional foundation. At the same time, you should keep your eyes on related subject areas and other subjects, so as to improve your knowledge structure. Broaden your horizons and expand your suitable employment fields. Third: Rising star type of mentor is a fledgling “little Zhuge” who has achieved certain and recognized achievements in the professional field and is a rising star in the academic world. This type of mentor is Students will learn a lot from their tutors, including professional knowledge, academic habits and successful experiences, and their classmates will also feel full of hope. Since the tutor has many projects and experiments, the student's work will definitely be a lot harder, such as reading a lot of literature, processing massive data, etc. The final thesis material is very rich, there are many papers available for publication, and you can also publish some papers yourself. . Since these types of mentors are on the rise in their careers, they are likely to not miss any opportunity to perform. They are hands-on and rarely let their disciples do it. Students lack the opportunity to exercise because their development space is compressed by rising star mentors. Chance.
Therefore, when students interact with such tutors, they should pay attention to avoid such conflicts with their tutors. No matter what ideas you have, you should communicate with the tutor. The tutor will usually consider the students' requirements and give the students some opportunities to practice. During the job search stage, tutors usually provide help to students so that they can sow seeds in some good units or companies and lay the foundation for future cooperation. Generally speaking, there are many comprehensive tutoring projects, most of which are horizontal projects or sub-topics. The project content is relatively specific and basic, which is very suitable for students who are new to practical projects. After a period of practical operation, they will prepare themselves for future entry. Lay a better professional foundation in the work field. The classification of mentors is not absolute. There are many intersections between the practical school and the academic school. There are very few who are purely theoretical or purely engaged in projects. This article only makes a classification based on the overall characteristics of the mentors. For graduate students, which type of tutor they choose will have a direct impact on their future study and life. Everyone should rationally judge how to choose a suitable tutor based on their own interests and employment prospects. However, although the mentor's influence is important, it is only due to external factors. What is more important is that students themselves should make a reasonable plan for the postgraduate stage and start from internal factors to hold the remote control of the future in their own hands. Recommended reading: Re-examination for in-service postgraduate students: If you want to fight, fight a good fight. How to seize the opportunity to seize the re-examination for in-service postgraduate students and adjust what to test for the English re-examination for in-service postgraduate students