Mentors have helped propel me forward in my career
Why did you decide to become a mentor?
As a self-taught software engineer I have always understood the importance of mentors. It has helped propel me forward in my career and as someone who has mentored on social media for years in a group setting I wanted to have a more personal one-on-one impact.
What is your background?
I’m a two time college drop out. I studied CS in college, but found after a lot of time and energy invested that it wasn’t the path for me. I started studying using all online and free resources and now work at a FAANG company.
I was able to take my life from delivering pizzas and not feeling very good to about where I was in my life. To a point where now I am mentoring, speaking at conferences, guesting on podcasts, building courses and working as a software engineer.
How did you first get into tech/your industry?
I dropped out and took a ‘technology trainer’ role at a software company. From there I studied 9 months every single day. I made a coast to coast move from California to Florida when I landed my first dev job at a small military contract company that specialized in training exercises for the Department of Defense.
I did a very personal video going over my journey to breaking into the industry in detail you can view here.
A good mentor provides direction
Did you ever have a strong mentor in your life? How did they help?
I worked with a tech lead that really taught me how to be a good mentor. When I would ask how to get better he would recommend resources. They showed me that all a good mentor is provide direction and a mentee must put the energy into making it a reality.
How do you usually set up mentorships? How and how much do you communicate?
When a potential mentee reaches out I make sure they know what they are looking for. You can’t help someone who doesn’t know what they want. I also check to make sure I’m the right mentor. Taking someone on who isn’t a right fit is a recipe for disaster.
What are you getting out of being a mentor?
It’s simple. It feels good to have an impact on the industry and see people succeed.
What’s your best advice for new mentors out there?
A good profile with why someone should even be interested in you and your history will do volumes for you.
The best thing is to eliminate imposter syndrome
Can you tell us a story of one of your recent mentorships?
A common theme that has played out again and again is lack of confidence. Helping to eliminate imposter syndrome is one of the best things I have helped to do for most of the mentees early in their career.
One of my first mentees was a bootcamp graduate. He was looking for his first job and not only did I go through his resume and LinkedIn review, but able to give him confidence for the interview process. Making him okay with the concept of failing an interview as a lesson and not a loss.
And to wrap things up, where can we find out more about you and your work?
Follow me on LinkedIn!
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