Your Take On Mentoring in the IT Realm

Good morning, all. I have a quick question that has been burning in the back of my mind for a while. Here goes:

Background: In the military, noncommissioned officers and senior noncommissioned officers are routinely encouraged to mentor their subordinates, peers who may need help, as well as junior commissioned officers. Quite frankly, mentoring is huge, almost an "all the rage"-type of thing. In the two civilian jobs I have had since retiring, I find that mentoring is practically non-existent or at best inconsistently applied (not unlike the military, though the awareness seems to be greater in the military).

Question: How do you see the state of mentoring in the IT industry, in general? Did you have a mentor? Was your mentor beneficial to your advancement? Was your mentor detrimental to your career goals?

Please take the survey and provide an answer below. I am very interested in the responses.

Cheers

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Comments

Plantwiz

If you want to mentor someone, by all means, go for it!

As far as where and when it is done in any industry simply depends on the people. I do have a question for you as far as how your question above fits in with IT certification? The question as posted to me reads as research for something like a blog article rather than benefiting the members in their certification studies.

FWIW

tpatt100

I had a manager that tried to implement something like a mentoring system but it kinda fell by the wayside due to workload.

I had some "virtual mentors" years ago on an IT forum I used to frequent, people I would read responses they posted and I sometimes emailed asking for advice.

I think that mentoring in the workplace would be beneficial just not sure it's possible with most companies.

the_Grinch

I think it tends to be harder in IT because generally you come in knowing your job. I always think of it like that first college course you took out of high school. In high school that first class was bs. Learn about the teacher, what you will learn, and generally nothing of importance. In college you got that maybe the first fifteen minutes and then the professor started teaching. In the military you have a lot to learn beyond just your job, where in IT your job is your job. I've trained/mentored people (I'll admit I'm not great at it) and it basically comes down to there is only so much you can really do. That might be because I was always in the trenches as it were so maybe that's why I haven't seen it much.

tpatt100

Well actually TechExams has been my new virtual mentor for the past couple of years. Plenty of posts I have read here have steered my career in a slightly different direction. Things like "cloud" and virtualization were things that I sort of glanced over in blogs but I had to actually buckle down and do some actual studying because I can't avoid the subjects anymore.

jthunderbird

I did not have a mentor (even when I was enlisted for 6 years) and I believe it stunted my growth.

Simple things like understanding how the IT career field worked (helpdesk->admin->engineer), importance of certifications and other fairly basic importances of the IT field were a mystery to me starting out. I did not get my first cert until a year after separating from the military. Now I make more than double my E4 salary 4 years ago because everything EVENTUALLY became clear.

I try to mentor (if you want to call it that) anyone I can interested in IT on those exact basics. When it comes to actual technological mentoring though, I have only helped a couple people close to me.

jthunderbird

tpatt100 wrote: »

Well actually TechExams has been my new virtual mentor for the past couple of years. Plenty of posts I have read here have steered my career in a slightly different direction. Things like "cloud" and virtualization were things that I sort of glanced over in blogs but I had to actually buckle down and do some actual studying because I can't avoid the subjects anymore.

I agree, this forum is a great source... not just with people who have knowledge, but with people just eagerly waiting to share that knowledge. Virtual mentoring may be the future

lsud00d

Looking back on it, mentoring is a great way to learn the in's and out's of any industry. I know I've had many mentors along the way, each to varying degrees.

I think the main point is since it is not structured like the military, you have to seek out your own mentors. Nobody should be required to sit you down and teach you--mentoring is a social exchange and a two-way street. You have to bring something to the table, weather it be pleasantries, common goals/aspirations, and myriad other factors. This, in addition to the demonstration of learning, progress, and that you are not wasting that persons time.

In general if you are a social person, eager to learn, and pick up on things at a rapid pace, many people will want to mentor you and see you succeed. Then, when you are in the same position but the tables are turned, you return the good karma and continue the cycle.

WafflesAndRootbeer

Mentoring was done back in the day, but not these days. Things changed too much when the market moved to contracting and things got more competitive when the marketplace was flooded with IT workers chasing big money dreams. Do I think mentoring is good? Absolutely. Do I think I would do it? Not my thing but I wouldn't discourage it or hinder the process if it was implemented somehow.

DevilWAH

I self memntored, but that was only becasue i was in an IT unit where the network engineer left 3 weeks after i started and I was given the job. There was no one to mentor me.

However I personal always try to mentor the junior staff if they ask questions or I am working with them. I dont go in to huge details, but try just to get them to understand the basics of what I am doing. Like today I was helping on of them figure out a authentication issue with a wireless client that was caused by a certifiacte error. So you take 5 minutes to explain the principles behind a PKI, no technical stuff, just the theory of how and why it works because he didn't know (just out of school working with us for 12 months). If he want to go learn about the tecnical side thats up to him, but at least now I hope he has a basic understanding of how the wireless authentication at out institute works, and can apply it to other things to.

keenon

I would have liked a mentor when i first got into the industry, would have avoided alot of mistakes. I still seek advice but I still don't have a mentor. I still would like to have one myself. Side note having had that experience I do take it upon myself to mentor those that want it. I have been lucky enough to have made some real friends and see them prosper as well

stryder144

Plantwiz wrote: »

If you want to mentor someone, by all means, go for it!

As far as where and when it is done in any industry simply depends on the people. I do have a question for you as far as how your question above fits in with IT certification? The question as posted to me reads as research for something like a blog article rather than benefiting the members in their certification studies.

FWIW

Part of what I do, even though I am rather new to the cert game, is help my coworkers decide which certs they are going study for. I discuss things with them, find out their goals, figure out how to accomplish the goals, and how those goals fit in with our company's mission. So, no, not research for a blog article. I am still trying to adjust to being a civilian and figuring out how the past experiences that I have truly fit in to the civilian world.

xenodamus

TechExams was my virtual mentor as I started searching for a way to move up in the IT world. I knew there were better opportunities out there, but didn't know what they were looking for in a tech/admin/engineer.

Early in your career, mentoring is more about having someone show you that path. You may need help choosing certifications, picking good books or even deciding on a specialization. I try to help everyone I can that's lost in that phase. I remember what it was like and a helping hand from an experienced engineer makes all the difference.

Now that I'm well into my career as an admin/engineer, mentoring looks a little different. I'm not looking for a senior engineer to sit down and show me how to build my server or configure my switch. I wouldn't even ask one of them to "mentor" me officially. I just try to identify the ones who are willing to explain things when need be, or give me a recommendation on architecture and design, or advise me of a potential pitfall (because they've done it!). At this point I'm just trying to learn from their experience and methods of operation - not necessarily technical details. I don't think you need an official "mentor", but you do need to find people who know their stuff and do things right. Then listen and learn. Pay attention to how they make design decisions and what their concerns are during a downtime/upgrade. That's the stuff that matters.

I've never heard anyone in IT use the word mentor in a work environment. But there will always be senior folks who are willing to help you learn from their experience. They still expect you to get in the trenches and cut your teeth just like they did. But they'll be available to offer guidance when needed.

JockVSJock

So far in my IT career, I've had zero mentoring. None, zip, zilch.

The closest I've gotten to mentoring is Tech Exams.

SteveLord

Techexams and Spiceworks communities. In my career, I definitely take time to pick the brains of senior IT folk. Luckily in state government there's plenty of them, but we're small enough that a lot of people know each other.

eansdad

Seems like most people in higher positions keep more to themselves as an act of self preservation.

Krones

No mentor at my workplace which is a bit frustrating since I am a Jr. System's Administrator which is a position that is really meant for an apprenticeship.

DevilWAH

Ok but who has worked with our under other engineers working on the same technology they do?

For example in most manage support companied you have the layer 1 tec support (answer phones) layer 2 the CCNP's of the networking works who fix issues and do insulations. and then the Level3 and architectures, who work with the customer to provide come up and develop the solutions.

While you might not actually mentioning in these places you do get to pass on issues you don't under stand up the chain, and get instructions from above on how to fix/install.

I would say if you are a level 2 field engineer and given a configuration/insulation plan to follow by a senior engineer this is mentoring.

Personal I have never been managed by or worked in a company or team that had any other network engineers. This is both good and bad, first you learn to do things your way and work out the best way, with out the influence of other people who have set but not always the best or most current way to do things. But on the other had you don't have the grouped experience of some one to tell you why not to try something and end up going down avenues that become dead ends.