As an ASL interpreter practitioner, I have had the privilege of directly mentoring a number of novice interpreters. It's worth noting that many of us, myself included, enter into a prospective field with a desire to "make it", yet not knowing what that takes. My mentoring style assesses which genres of interpreting fit within the scope and skills of my mentees I am working with. In addition, I utilize my role to reinforce and scaffold mentees through role-playing various scenarios and providing appropriate guidance as needed.

An essential element as a mentor is intimate and working knowledge of our profession's Code of Professional Conduct. A good mentor will model for their mentee what ethics an interpreter can exercise. This can be done by facilitating authentic and honest discourse of ethical decision making. Finally, sometimes this field can be rough. As mentor, I provide a sounding board and safe space to offer emotional support in processing and debriefing the work. I believe that we can inspire aspiring interpreters to speak about the effectiveness, or ineffectiveness, of the work itself; but never referring to the work as a value of self.