Morson Projects have a total of 78 mentors. Anna personally wished she “had a mentor at the start of her career which would have benefited and supported her.”
We caught up with Anna to hear more about the journey that has led her into a successful career at Morson Projects and an additional role as our in-house Mentor Trainer:
Some of Anna’s interview answers are summarised below:
Why did you choose to become a mentor?
I chose to become a mentor because I think it’s really important to support more junior engineers. I know that I would have benefited from having a mentor when I graduated. I just want to give someone the support that I wish I had myself.
Please can you tell us a bit about your mentoring experiences so far…
I have been a mentor since I was a graduate engineer, and I was mentoring apprentice engineers at my previous company. I really enjoy mentoring and it was something I started doing because I felt like it would’ve benefitted me.
Subsequently, I have had a mentor and I really see the benefit in it. Thats’s why I’m really passionate about training our mentors and having this group of engineers with a wealth of knowledge within Morson Projects to deliver mentoring to our early careers’ development program.
What do you enjoy most about being a mentor?
I really love mentoring and I think the thing I enjoy the most is meeting new people, getting to know them, and being able to give that support to them.
I really enjoy mentoring people through chartership. I’d say the best thing about being a mentor is when someone becomes chartered, and you get that phone call from them saying that they’ve just become a chartered engineer.
Can you share a story about a mentee who made significant progress under your guidance…
Not just one but all mentees have made significant progress under my guidance because it’s all down to their hard work and determination.
For example, it’s very satisfying when I see previous mentees pop-up on LinkedIn with a post that they’ve been promoted, or they’ve progressed in their career or when they have changed companies. I think that it is very exciting to see.
What challenges do you often face in mentoring, and how do you suggest dealing with them?
There are a few challenges you might face in mentoring, one of them can be when you don’t gel with your mentee or mentor, and that’s fine.
At Morson when we mentor junior engineers and graduate engineers, if there’s not that click then we can look to find another mentor for that person.
What advice would you give someone considering becoming a mentor?
I think it’s important for us to support more junior engineers and to keep the industry moving.
What do you think makes a good mentor? How have you developed these traits over time?
I think there’s a few traits which make a good mentor. I would say openness, honesty, and good communication – by that I don’t mean talking but listening, being able to give good advice and confidentiality – so a mentor may come to you with some questions, and it should always be treated confidentially.
Find out more about our Early Careers Development Programme here >