IBIT Mentoring Program
I was nominated for the IBIT mentoring program this semester, and I got paired with my mentor Sondra Barbour, Former EVP & CIO, Lockheed Martin.
I had my first meeting with my mentor Sondra on Thursday. Nov. 11 in Speakman 211 at 2:10pm.
During our meeting, we spoke on
- road maps in the professional world
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- which she said there was none and is different for everyone
- her motivation and my motivations
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- she spoke on her past and her mom
- I shared my background as a first-gen student
- her reasons for staying at Lockheed for over 30 years
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- got to explore many areas (hr, ux, audit, etc.)
- how to navigate when you don\’t know the solution at the workplace
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- be vulnerable
- people like to help and it shows you\’re human
I had my second meeting with my mentor Sondra last Friday, Dec. 3 at 10am through zoom. During the meeting, we discussed the following:
- Omicron\’s impact on employment
- staying at a company long term vs switching every few years
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- impact on salary, promotion, and personal branding
- when it\’s time to leave
- qualities of being a good leader
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- the importance of soft skills in the workspace and with client
I have provided feedback to Laurel Miller for the IBIT mentoring program as well.
From this mentoring program, I learned that navigating the professional world really depends on you: your ambitions, lifestyle, and what you seek. I got to learn about the pros and cons of staying at a company for a long time and job-hopping every few years. Another thing I learned was leadership. Sondra has an abundance of experience with leadership, and communication is a huge key in being a good leader: being able to communicate nicely and bond with members within your company but also with people outside as well. Though someone can be qualified skill-wise, soft skills is what really drive the workplace. Connections and bonding is a big part of business.