With a new semester and school year starting, it is more important than ever to scout around for an academic adviser to guide new graduate students through their coursework and dissertation. The norm for how temporary or how permanent your adviser is may differ across universities, but the role your adviser plays in your graduate school career---and well afterwards---cannot be overstated enough. In some schools, your adviser will be selected for you, or your adviser will select you (not the other way around), whereas in others the onus is on you to make the best choice. While most schools ask you to choose sometime in the Spring/Winter semester, the Fall semester is when you need to do the legwork on knowing how to make this decision. Here are five suggestions:

1. Be aware during classes and guest lectures. When you're doing the readings for class and participating in discussions, don't just think about your performance in the course. Also consider what the class structure and facilitation tells you about the professor as a potential adviser. Are the readings challenging enough? Do you feel a connection with the theories and methodologies being discussed? What do you think about how the professor explains key concepts and timetables? Is s/he just flexible enough to work with you during stressful times, but also rigid enough to push you through challenges to make sure you finish? Several graduate classes invite guest lectures by other faculty members, which is a great opportunity to meet these professors and mentally evaluate them as well for their fit as a potential adviser.

2. Meet and know faculty members. Realistically speaking, the 3-4 graduate classes you are enrolled for in a semester are not enough to know the faculty in your department. In many universities outside the U.S., graduate students must work independently with scholars rather than in set classes, so there is an even greater need to meet and know faculty outside class requirements. Take the time to attend department colloquia, meetings, and workshops to talk with professors. Follow up with your class instructors and guest lecturers outside class. Introduce yourself to other faculty members in your area but with whom you have not had a class yet. This will help you to not only learn about their research, but also get a better idea about their interpersonal styles. Not all professors are hands-on, nor should they be: think about what kind of interpersonal support you might need and select an adviser accordingly.

3. Read faculty research. Of course, interpersonal styles and support are not all that matter in a great adviser-you should be mutually interested in each other's research and methodologies. In addition to engaging professors in one-on-one conversations, go through their bio and/or curriculum vitae (CV) to get a more in-depth understanding about their work. Read some of their research, so you can gauge if they might be interested in your perspective. Also, showing your potential adviser that you are reasonably well-versed with their work is a great way to have them want to work with you!

4. Serve on research teams. Once you have noted common research interests with a faculty member after meeting him/her and reading his/her research, go a step further and try to work with him/her on a project or ask to join a research team s/he is leading. This is a great way to get a hands-on understanding of how s/he works with other people on the job, and what you might expect in terms of having him/her direct your dissertation. Consider, for instance, how s/he sets and deals with deadlines, how participative or independent the research process is with him/her, what his/her expectations are of you, if your writing styles match, and how s/he handles the inevitable process of re-writing and re-submitting. This is also a great way to bolster your CV for the future, since you can show that you have worked with other colleagues, rather than only work solo.

5. Talk to other graduate students. Finally, don't forget to talk with other graduate students who have worked with your potential adviser, or are his/her current advisees. Be discreet and courteous while making inquiries, but find out what their experiences with this faculty member have been, in terms of setting a research agenda, guidance and support, expectations of work, networking with other scholars, finishing the dissertation on time, writing recommendation letters during and after graduate school, and being a great mentor.

Depending on the conventions at your university and the personal rapport you develop with faculty members, you might even be able to switch advisers after making an initial selection-but why not avoid that trouble by following these simple suggestions, eh?