Welcome to the Mentoring Blog. Our goal is to provide a forum for mentors and mentees to meet, interact, and share ideas.
Many engineers in industry have formal mentoring programs that often last for a year with the same mentor and mentee, and then they have an opportunity to change. At my company, Boeing, a call for participation is sent to the engineering staff, who attend a mentor training class after which mentors volunteer and provide a short resume. The potential mentees search the list for an individual they think could help them mentor their career. If the two agree, they start meeting about once a month or more. Many of the mentors on the list, like me, have been named technical fellows by Boeing and have quite a few years of experience. In many cases, our primary focus is to mentor other engineers who would like to become fellows, an honor based on technical knowledge, expertise, and the employee’s impact across the company. As a matter of fact, teaching and mentoring are one of the criterion used for selecting technical fellows. I have learned a lot by being a mentor and find it a very positive experience.
We wonder what other forms of mentoring are used? How often do the individuals meet? What is the feedback from both parties to the mentoring experience? Please post a comment to this blog if you would like to have discussions on what to look for in a mentor, finding a mentor, discussion topics for mentor-mentee meetings, or to brainstorm other mentoring ideas. Let’s show the advantages of mentoring.
