SEED 2008-2009 Mentor Matching 39% Done

Since 9 July, we are in the SEED 2008-2009 Mentor Matching Cycle.
That is, the 85 Engineering mentoring program participants have
created their 15-name Mentor Wish Lists and I am in the process of contacting
the highest priority potentially available mentor for each of them.
In this first six days, 39% have been matched so far.
There are two terms being matched at the same time:

• September 2008 – September 2009 Recent Hire Term
  
  which already has 9 out of 23 matched
• September 2008 – March 2009 Established Staff Term
  
  which already has 24 out of 63 matched

It usually takes between one and six contacts to make a match. In time,
this requires six weeks to two months for the entire group.
SEED always matches everyone in the term eventually!

Besides the fun of communicating with some of the most talented and
interesting Engineers
in the world (SEED’s mentor and mentee population), I enjoy seeing who
links up. We track all sorts of patterns: gender, geographic location,
professional area, seniority, etc. Some trends are consistent from term
to term: about 2/3 of the mentor-mentee pairs will work at a distance
(that is, they will be widely separated by geography and time zones), very
few mentors will accept a mentee in their own management chain, more
women mentees will ask for women mentors, etc.

I send out a great deal of email during the mentor matching cycle. However,
I also get responses when I see potential mentors in the cafeteria or at
meetings. Some of their answers are very encouraging for Sun’s Engineering
Community even if they mean disappointment for the particular SEED participant
who has requested that mentor. “Can’t take on another SEED mentee – I am
still spending time with my mentee from last year. It worked out great!”
is a rejection I am happy to get.

More information on the SEED worldwide Engineering mentoring program is
available at
http://research.sun.com/SEED/