Appraiser Supervisor or Mentor - What's The Difference?

In an earlier post I published "Becoming A Licensed Appraiser" by Coleen C. Morrison, IFA, GAA. Much of Coleen's article dealt with finding a certified appraiser to supervise and mentor the newly licensed appraiser.

But just exactly what's the difference between being a supervisor and being a mentor? Today I stumbled across a great [unsigned] article on the Iowa Professional Licensing web site that tackles that topic head on! Here are some exerpts:

Within our industry, we have typically assigned the word “supervisor” in lieu of the word mentor. I would simply caution that if you are a trainee, while technically, you need a “supervising appraiser”; you need to carefully consider what the difference between these two roles can be and actively seek a mentor, regardless of the term used in the signing of the report. A supervisor, by definition is a person who manages, or directs. A mentor however is defined more aptly as an advisor. An advisor, by title, implies that the giver of the advice has knowledge or experience. It is the knowledge and the experience that is the invaluable aspect of the training/experience gathering process towards licensure. If a trainee is simply being “supervised”, then there could be cause for concern when actual demonstration of competency for credit of the experience is requested.

Signs that you are being “supervised” versus “mentored”:

• A supervisor will inspect only a handful of properties with you before “setting you loose”.
• A supervisor will give you technical pointers and verbiage for the structure (double-hung windows; poured concrete foundation; vinyl siding, etc).
• A supervisor will instruct you to “fill out the form”.
• A supervisor will show you how to develop the cost approach.
• A supervisor will tell you to find three comparable properties and “grid” them.
• A supervisor will tell you what adjustments should be made.
• A supervisor will have you select a number from the indicated range, for a final value.
• A supervisor will have you add boilerplate addenda for legal purposes.

Find out what a Mentor can bring to the table - click here!

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