By: Deepa Rao
It was a cold Saturday afternoon, and I was sitting with my coffee and scrolling down my emails when I came across the Women in Agile Mentorship program. I read the content and saw a form attached to the email. I thought of closing the email for a second but then something struck me, and I opened the form and filled it. I thought if I could help one person that would make my heart happy and applied for the program.
I got an email back stating that I was selected as a mentor. I was the president of a regional Indian Nonprofit organization, and I had advisors and mentors who guided me throughout my presidency. They were past presidents and had gained experience, and their guidance helped me during my tenure. That was why I decided to mentor someone who wants my guidance in IT. I have more than 20 years of experience in the IT field.
The process is very smooth and efficient. Women in Agile guide you in every step and keep track of what is happening. They send periodic emails and appreciate the time we spend with our mentees.
My Sessions with Mentees:
My Monday starts by waking up at 5.30 am. I then prepare a lunch box and breakfast for my daughter and then sit for my work. My work is over at 5.00 PM. I go to the gym, come back, have dinner, go for a walk with my daughter and husband, or read a book with my daughter. It’s time allocated to be with her. Then a few hours in front of my laptop to catch up with my volunteering tasks, if any, and go to bed. Weekdays are pretty much occupied. So I met with my mentees once a month on a weekend (Saturday).
Saturday is the day I wake up late and have my coffee in the backyard, listening to chirping birds and smelling the fresh morning scents of flowers blooming. I scheduled my Zoom meetings for 10 AM. I had two mentees, so I booked my Zoom meetings with them on alternate Saturdays. One of them was from Nigeria and the other was from the USA. The person from Nigeria was a teacher, and she was trying to switch to the IT field. The other person from the US was trying to change her job since she was not satisfied with her job.
The person from Nigeria was a young teacher ready to do what she could to get into the IT field. The first session was more of an introduction session getting to know each other and the guidance she needed. In the following sessions, I asked her to enroll in several courses like Scrum Master training, project management certifications, and relevant courses required to pass certification and become a PMP. She was very dedicated and did all the courses needed. I am also the president of a nonprofit organization called Northeast Ohio Women in Tech, and we conduct workshops in IT fields, so I referred her to some of our videos and podcasts.
In the last few sessions, she told me she was prepared to apply for jobs as project coordinator and Scrum Master. I asked her to send me her resume so that I could review it. We also did an interview session and LinkedIn profile creation sessions from NEOWIT, and I asked her to check the videos. She happily updated her resume and sent it to me. I added a few points to highlight areas where she can provide value to the companies she applies to or joins and sent it back to her. She was extremely happy. She said she was good now, and we stopped meeting as she is comfortable to take it from there. I was happy that I was some help to her.
The second person I mentored was not very happy with her boss not treating her well and having unrealistic expectations of her. I have been seeing that post-COVID the office environment is somewhat different, and people are more stressed out and cannot handle things as expected. For example, she was assigned a task and asked to complete it within specified dates, and they used to change the dates and asked her to complete it within 48 hours. Sometimes I have seen women not treating other women with respect in the workplace.
I told her that this is becoming the norm in companies, and that people need to be trained on how to handle stress and workload. Prioritization of work and people management training should be given, and stress management after COVID-19 should be given at the workplace. For now, I advised her to remain calm and composed and do some stress relief meditation. Also I advised her to train herself in project management and Agile so she can be ready to take up a new position. I gave her a few contacts (recruiters) who were in my contacts and asked her to apply. Also, she told me that she is getting a good salary and benefits, so she needs to consider that aspect and try to adjust to her current workplace.
When she interviewed with other companies, she figured out that what she was earning was way more than the current offers she had, so she talked to me about that. I advised her if she feels that her company is paying more then she needs to ignore the work-related problems and continue in the same company. I also gave her a NEOWIT resume and interview workshop videos to train and equip herself for the next job in case she decides to pursue new opportunities. She told me she was comfortable and that she would reach out to me if she needed me.
Both my mentees were very sweet and dedicated individuals, and I loved working with them.
What Did I Gain as a Mentor?
I learned to communicate with people and improved my listening skills. This is the first time I am mentoring someone, so listening is very important to give the right feedback and suggestions. It improves self-confidence and self-awareness. I used to prepare before the meeting for 15 minutes on what questions I needed to ask. Effective questioning skills, rendering proper feedback techniques, exposure to new perspectives, supporting another woman, growing my network, improved communication skills, and listening skills are some takeaways I gained from this mentorship program. Another important factor is you will be improving leadership skills because a mentor always steps into the leadership role and advises the mentees.
I was fortunate enough to get both peer mentoring and reverse mentoring. The Nigerian person was a young individual so I could administer reverse mentoring, whereas the person from the USA was peer-level so I could do peer mentoring.
This was important to me because it helped me in my personal development too. I gained more confidence that I could mentor someone, guide them, and help them out. For a mentee, it helps them to think strategically when they get proper guidance from a peer or a senior person. My overall experience with this program was very nice, and I would love to continue with my role as mentor and guide my peer or junior with the requirements they have.
Thank you, Women in Agile team, for this wonderful opportunity
About the Author:
I am Deepa Rao, an IT professional for the past 20 years, also volunteering as President of Northeast Ohio Women in Tech (NEOWIT) and President of AAIWO (Association of Asian Indian Women in Ohio)
