Whether you are a Junior or a Senior Engineer, mentoring has a significant impact on your career.
For a Junior Engineer, there is so much to learn in the workplace that cannot be learned from a textbook. Having the guidance and knowledge from an experienced individual will help develop skills and grow confidence in a realistic environment, all whilst encouraging success.
For a Senior Engineer, the benefits of being a Mentor, sharing your knowledge with a young engineer and having an impact on their career is not only personally satisfying but also a learning opportunity. Mentoring boosts interpersonal skills and strengthens knowledge and confidence. The rewards from mentoring is a two-way street.
Below our Principal Engineer and Mentor Nathan Blowers discusses what being a Mentor means to him.
'Having an opportunity to mentor Junior Engineers within my workplace is rewarding and enables me to transfer my knowledge and professional skills that I have gained during my career.
We never stop learning as engineers and the mentoring process for me also provides the added bonus of expanding my own knowledge when asked specific technical questions. I am able to provide assistance in gaining professional accreditation, explaining the process and verifying the completion of my colleague’s Initial Professional Development (IPD).
Mentoring should be personal to the individual, which gives them confidence to develop their independent thinking. I find it rewarding to watch new ideas and designs being developed by a junior engineer from just a quick conversation about a particular subject.'