All About Our Mentor Program

DRA is committed to ensuring that the shorthand reporting profession remains a viable and integral part of the legal system. To this end, we have designed a Mentor Program that will meld the enthusiasm of new reporters and students with the maturity of the more seasoned reporter. New reporters and students will be matched up with experienced reporters in the state of California in order to provide them with relevant guidance, support and encouragement during the beginning stages of their new careers.

Remember when you first started reporting and were reluctant to go to your agency with questions you thought you should know the answer to or situations you were not quite sure how to handle, for fear they would laugh at you? It still happens to the inexperienced reporter and student, and they need your help.

Mentoring is a trusting, supporting, positive, intense, confidential, low-risk relationship in which the partners can try new ways of working together and relating to one another, make mistakes along the way, gain feedback, accept challenges, and learn from each other. A central quality of mentoring is that it is goal-oriented, nurturing, insightful and supportive.

If you are a caring individual who has knowledge, experience and wisdom to share with another individual who is ready and willing to benefit from this exchange to enrich their professional journey, you are the Mentor we are looking for! Here is your chance to give back to your profession. We are certain you will find mentoring a rewarding experience from which you will gain as much as you give.

In order for the program to be successful, we would request a commitment of four hours a month for a minimum of one year, which may include communication via e-mail, phone, fax videoconference, face-to-face meetings, and may include having the student or new reporter sit in with the mentor for some valuable apprentice hours or work experience.

If you are a working deposition reporter with significant experience and are interested in mentoring, please click on the link to the left to download the Mentor Application form. Once we receive your application, we will endeavor to make the best match possible for both mentor and mentee.

If you are a student or a reporter who is interested in the mentor program: Mentee Application, Mentor Application.

Thank you!

Deposition Reporters Association of California, Inc.
7172 Regional Street #111
Dublin, CA 94568
Jeri Cain
Mentor Program Coordinator
Phone 888-867-2074
Fax 925-905-2611
jcain@meritreporting.com
Email: Cal_dra@yahoo.com
Website: www.caldra.org