Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1510765
NOVEMBER 2023 I SMT007 MAGAZINE 49 Matties: Hannah, how important has it been to have a mentor in your new role? Mentorship is so important. e mentor for my current project is very experienced; he knows what he's doing. His help through this project has helped me understand what's going on and, therefore, I feel more confident. He walks me through, step by step, so I'm not missing some- thing later. I feel more engaged in my company and more included on my team. I've just really enjoyed having a mentor. Nolan Johnson: What makes for a good mentor? I had a very bad experience with a mentor where I didn't feel as included. I want a men- tor to explain something thor- oughly when I don't under- stand, and not just leave it to me to figure out—espe- cially when school is so dif- ferent than the work environ- ment. Learning electronics in school is so different than actually doing elec- tronics in the industry. It's so important for a mentor to help close those gaps of knowledge. A mentor should not make a new employee feel stupid when they don't know something; that's big for me because it's so discouraging. Part of a mentor's job should be to help the new employee acclimatize to the company, and inform them about work resource groups and people on their team who will answer questions and help with problems. I also believe a mentor should be able to give constructive feedback. I like positive affirma- tions for what I'm doing well, but I also appre- ciate constructive feedback on where I can do better. New employees don't know everything, so that continuous feedback matters. Johnson: How did you assimilate into your new job? What can a Gen Z-er do to make themselves more comfortable in their new environment? at is such a great question because I feel like Gen Z wants everything handed to them. ey want their employer to just give them every- thing they want, and they don't want to make an effort to reach for those opportunities. My employer gave me the opportunity to help with the community food bank, and work with and meet some people in our company, and I've taken advantage of that. If I had just said, "No, you know what, I'm just going home, I don't want to do that," then I wouldn't have had the opportunity to meet new friends and meet my coworkers. It's so important to put yourself out there. Especially when you're an introvert, it's really hard to want to put yourself out there, to not be closed off; you want to sit in your bubble all day. But you need to go out and meet people. You need to set up one-on- ones with managers on your team, meet your team, and just put yourself out there. Te: What advice do you have about estab- lishing that trust with your employer, so they know that you are somebody who will live up to what they're asking of you? Trust needs to be earned. I have established that trust by coming into work every single day, asking my co-workers when I have a prob- lem, and asking my boss when I don't under- stand something. When I'm working on a proj- ect, I try to figure out a solution to the prob- lem. If it's been an hour or two, and I can't solve it, I take the next step to ask my boss. Now he knows I'm doing the work necessary to get the job done. Being accountable to your employer's expectations is beyond important, and that's given me the flexibility I have with my employer. Matties: What do you think makes a good leader?