I once worked with a partner who I think is brilliant and anytime I implicitly ask him to be my mentor (I.e. we should stay in touch, I’m sure I will have questions so I hope it is okay if I reach out. etc), he ghosts me but he does serve as a reference for me anytime I ask and I’ve successfully got a couple of jobs so I’m sure he’s saying good things. Any tips on how to go about building this relationship? Should I just find someone else? TIA
Find someone else
“Why doesn’t my crush get the hint? I bat my eyelashes and twirl my hair and everything!”
Chief
Those “implicit” things you’re saying don’t really seem like they warrant a response so I’m not sure ghosting is really what he’s doing.
If you want him to mentor you, then you need to be intentional about putting him in a true position to mentor you. Ask him to grab lunch, call him with a concrete question, etc. Don’t just say “hey we should keep in touch” and expect him to take the laboring oar in the relationship!
If you do those things and it still feels like you’re pulling teeth, he may just not really be the mentoring type. Don’t take that personally and just try to be grateful you at least have a great reference out of him!
This.
And, people often don’t realize that mentoring is a 2-way relationship. Requires effort on both sides.
Also, some people aren’t super conscious of maintaining relationships anyway. Many of us have a family member or two that we love to see and talk to, but who never initiates contact. It isn’t personal. They’re just wired that way. Maybe there is something similar in play here (or any number of other innocuous reasons the partner isn’t keeping in touch).
Here, OP has someone they want to keep in contact with. No reason OP can’t be the initiator.
He may not be a people person. Like he’s not intentionally ghosting you, but he doesn’t want to hang out.