Category Archives: Mentoring & Other Business

The 110 new participants in Sun’s worldwide Engineering mentoring program
are now working on their Mentor Wish Lists, due on 3 December. 14 of them
have already submitted their mentor requests. Creating the Mentor Wish List
is probably the hardest part of the SEED program.

The SEED Engineering mentoring program takes a long-term view and does not have a preference for one kind of learning over another. That is, the mentoring partnership learning does not have to have anything to do with the participant’s current job. Some people want to learn to be better technical managers, others want to know how to get their ideas to customers faster. Many want to improve their soft skills: public presentation or speaking, negotiating, conflict management, and coaching. Still others want to improve their work and family balance and still have a great career. It takes time and mature consideration to work through all of this. In creating their Mentor Wish List, each SEED participant needs to
make two hard decisions:

1. What they want to learn
2. Who has already accomplished the kind of things they want to do
   
   (that is, who is already down the path that they see themselves walking)

SEED provides a list of over 430 senior and executive staff who are eligible
and willing to be mentors. Most have provided their biographies,
personal web page links, blog links, and other background information to give
program participants context. Researching potential mentors is like writing
a university paper – hunting for leads, backtracking, looking for key words, hunting again. Most SEED participants spend many days creating their Mentor Wish Lists.

Sometimes the fastest way to find biographical information on someone (both inside Sun’s public web pages and on the public net itself) is to use an internet search. Search results will show if the potential mentor has a Facebook, LinkedIn or other social networking page and if there is a blog associated with them. I advise
SEED participants to search for information about themselves first, to give them an idea of what is out there.

For example, a Google search of “Katy Dickinson” produced 3,590 results with
links to individual blog entries plus:

1. 
   Katy Dickinson in The People at Sun Labs/CTO
2. 
   Blogger: User Profile: Katy Dickinson (not sure why this is
   hit #2 since I don’t use Blogger and the page is empty)
3. 
   Katy Dickinson » Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology
   (I am on the ABI Advisory Board)
4. 
   Katy Dickinson | Facebook
5. 
   katy.dickinson’s Profile on icanhascheezburger (I didn’t know I had
   a profile here but I do like that photo of my cat)
6. 
   Katy Dickinson – ACM author profile page
7. 
   Katy Dickinson’s Public Profile on Plaxo
8. 
   Katy Dickinson – LinkedIn (I have a LinkedIn account but this is someone else
   with my name!)

Which is to say, there is a great deal of public information available on anyone
who has even a small presence in the world.

More?

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

Last night and today, we announced the worldwide all-Engineering PreSEED and
Global Sales and Services (GSS) SEED Engineering mentoring program participants for
the January-June 2009 terms. We picked 55 for each term.

Selection Metrics

About the 55 New PreSEED Participants:
======================================
103 PreSEED applications
14 disqualified for incomplete applications
34 had complete applications but they arrived too late for inclusion
53% selected
Location of Participants
1 Belgium, 2%
10 China, 18%
1 Czech Republic, 2%
1 France, 2%
2 Germany, 4%
9 India, 16%
2 Israel, 4%
1 Italy, 2%
2 Japan, 4%
1 Mexico, 2%
1 Norway, 2%
1 Korea, 2%
1 Russia, 2%
2 Singapore, 4%
1 Spain, 2%
1 UK, 2%
18 USA, 33%
8 California USA, 15%
4 Colorado, 7%
3 Massachusetts USA, 5%
2 Oregon, 4%
1 Texas USA, 2%
Division of Participants
21 GSS, 38%
2 Marketing, 4%
4 Microelectronics, 7%
22 Software Group, 40%
2 Storage Group, 4%
4 Systems, 7%
1 Worldwide Operations, 4%
Gender of Participants
10 Female, 18%
45 Male, 82%
About the 55 New GSS SEED Participants:
======================================
98 SEED applications
19 disqualified for incomplete applications
56% selected
Location of Participants
Australia   4,   8%
Austria   1,   2%
Belgium   1,   2%
China   5,   10%
Finland   1,   2%
France   1,  2%
Germany   5,
Greece   1,   2%
India   1,   2%
Japan   4,   8%
Singapore   1,   2%
Spain   3,   6%
Switzerland   1,   2%
Taiwan   1,   2%
United Kingdom   4,    8%
USA    20,    38%
California   4,   8%
Connecticut   2,   4%
Florida  3,    6%
Georgia  1,   2%
Michigan   1,   2%
New Jersey   3,    6%
Texas   5,   10%
Washington   1,   2%
Gender of Participants
2 Female, 4%
52 Male, 96%

The 110 new participants are now thinking about their Mentor Wish Lists –
due on 3 December. The first of two phone-in meetings with participants and
their managers to discuss mentor choices is tomorrow morning at 8 am.

More?

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

The application periods for both the SEED and PreSEED terms are
now closed. Human Resources records is now in the process of verifying
key application information (performance ratings, hire date, grade
level, etc.). The selection results for both terms of Sun’s worldwide
Engineering mentoring program will be announced on 19 November.
The terms will run January-June 2009. SEED and PreSEED will
accept a maximum of fifty participants per term (no minimum number).
The Global Sales and Services SEED term received 98 applicants, 79
of whom completed their applications. The PreSEED term received
103 applicants; 90 completed their applications.

Where?

The applicants for these terms are very diverse geographically, working in:

Australia, Austria, Belgium, China, Dubai UAR, France, Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, UK

USA: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia

More?

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

We are in the midst of two Sun worldwide Engineering mentoring program
application periods. The first is a SEED term for Global Sales & Service
(see my
October 22, 2008 entry, all material is due now, today –
12 November), and the second is for PreSEED (see my

October 31, 2008 entry, all material is due 14 November). I am sending
out daily summary reports in email to the applicants and their managers.
Tanya Jankot and I are replying to many email questions. SEED and PreSEED will
accept a maximum of fifty participants per term (no minimum number). Both
mentoring terms will run from January-June 2009.

Mentor Lists?

We are getting many questions about the preliminary mentor list on the
application form. This is not the final mentor preference list and the
applicant’s answer does not influence acceptance into the program.
(However, since this is a mentoring program, leaving the question blank
does not look good!) The question is asked to get applicants thinking about
the qualities they want in a Mentor and to start their research about
specific potential Mentors.

Program applicants and Mentees (Participants) are strongly discouraged from contacting potential Mentors directly before the match is formally made by SEED
program staff. Some potential Mentors are requested by many Participants,
while others have already communicated their preferences to SEED program staff.
We want to respect the potential Mentors’ time and preferences. Engineering
staff who want to contact mentors directly can do so without joining SEED.
Once applicants are accepted into the program, they have over a week to
prepare their ten name “Mentor Wish List”.

Status?

So far, we have 93 GSS applications (64 complete) and 86 PreSEED
applications (56 complete). The applicants for these terms are very
diverse geographically, working in:

Australia, Austria, Belgium, China, Dubai UAR, France, Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, UK

USA: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia

More?

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

We are in the midst of two Sun worldwide Engineering mentoring program
application periods. The first is a SEED term for Global Sales & Service
(see my
October 22, 2008 entry, all material is due tomorrow – 12 November),
and the second is for PreSEED (see my
October 31, 2008 entry, all material is due 14 November). I am sending
out daily summary reports in email to the applicants and their managers.
Tanya Jankot and I are replying to many email questions. SEED and PreSEED will
accept a maximum of fifty participants per term (no minimum number). Both
mentoring terms will run from January-June 2009.

Status?

So far, we have 80 GSS applications (43 complete) and 81 PreSEED
applications (51 complete). The applicants for these terms are very
diverse geographically, working in:

Australia, Austria, Belgium, China, France, Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, UK

USA: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia

More?

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

We are in the midst of two Sun worldwide Engineering mentoring program
application periods. The first is a SEED term for Global Sales & Service
(see my
October 22, 2008 entry, all material is due 12 November), and the second
is for PreSEED (see my
October 31, 2008 entry, all material is due 14 November). I am sending
out daily summary reports in email to the applicants and their managers.
Tanya Jankot and I are receiving many questions, corrections, and updates.
SEED and PreSEED will accept a maximum of fifty participants per term
(no minimum number).

Status?

So far, we have 66 GSS applications (23 complete) and 64 PreSEED
applications (42 complete). The applicants for these terms are very
diverse geographically, working in:

Australia, Austria, Belgium, China, France, Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, UK

USA: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia

More?

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

We are in the midst of two Sun worldwide Engineering mentoring program
application periods. The first is a SEED term for Global Sales & Service
(see my
October 22, 2008 entry, all material is due 12 November), and the second
is for PreSEED (see my
October 31, 2008 entry, all material is due 14 November). In a few
minutes from now, I will be hosting the second GSS worldwide question and
answer phone-in meeting for potential program applicants and their managers.
The PreSEED worldwide phone-in question and answer phone-in meetings are
next week.

Status?

So far, we have 37 GSS applications (9 complete) and 36 PreSEED
applications (18 complete). The applicants for these terms are very
diverse geographically, working in:

More?

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