The parent company that I work for has a mentorship program. I’ve worked for a few companies, but my current company is the only one that has a program like this. When I found out about it, I signed up to be a mentee immediately. I knew right away what kind of mentor I was looking for: a female engineer, more seasoned than I, been with the company longer than I, work out of the main campus of the company and not mind mentoring someone remotely. This is a tall order, I realized, and I was really lucky to have found one who fits my wishlist. More importantly, she chose to accept me as a mentee!
One of the things that she said on our last phone call struck me as a really good advice, and I really want to share with you what it is. The economy faces an unfortunate sharp downturn right now, and a lot of companies are downsizing. Rather than looking at this as a setback, she reminded me that engineers should look at this as an opportunity. Right now is the perfect time to inventorize one’s technical skills and traits, and address areas that need to be strengthened. Take the time to educate yourself. Know what your strengths are and how to market yourself, but also take the time to educate yourself on areas you need to work on. When the market goes up again, which it inevitably will, you will be ready to pounce on the opportunities when other are still recoiling from this economic downturn. You will be ahead of the pack. I think her advice is brilliant. Just as now is the time to re-assess one’s financial portfolio, we should assess our technical portfolio as well. There really is no better day than today.
