Mentoring in Engineering & Computer Science & Technology Jobs

I am giving two industry workshops called “Mentoring in Engineering & Computer Science & Technology Jobs” this Friday at the  National Association of Engineering Student Councils (NAESC) conference in San Luis Obispo (SLO). The sold-out NAESC conference is sponsored by Sun (among others) and hosted by the California Polytechnic State University (“CalPoly”). The material I will talk about includes:

• Mentoring
  • What do Mentors do?
  • Benefits of Mentoring
  • Formal versus Informal Mentoring
  • How to Find a Mentor?
  • How to Make Mentoring Work Better
• Getting a Job
  • Finding an Engineering or CS Job – What Counts?
  • Ways to Get Experience Before Getting a Job

The “Getting a Job” section includes some of the same material I developed for the Orion Academy talk I am giving this Saturday (see my 30 March 2009 blog for more). I took the material on the “Formal versus Informal Mentoring” page from my 12 February 2009 blog on that topic. The “Benefits of Mentoring” slide was inspired by a presentation given last year by a great and long-time SEED mentor Mary Artibee:

• Benefits of Mentoring
• For the Mentee
  • Working with a master of your craft: learn faster,
    learn what matters
  • Borrow mentor’s network, increased connections
  • Start building your professional reputation
  • Earn mentor’s good recommendation
  • Gain a broader scope, wider perspective, inspiration
• For the Mentor
  • A new and direct source: ideas, information, energy
  • Paying back, helping as they were helped
  • Gain a broader scope, wider perspective, inspiration

My NAESC talk is available for your review even if you are not going to the conference in SLO. Much of the mentoring information in this presentation
was developed as part of the  SEED Engineering worldwide mentoring program.