I love mentoring engineers. It’s been my job for the past 5 years.
But after some introspection, I’ve realized that I love teaching _smart_ people, or at least, people that are engaged and want to learn.
I can’t imagine being a traditional teacher, and having to teach kids that don’t care.
As a side note, some of the sharpest engineers I’ve mentored are interns. Maybe my company is exceptionally good at hiring interns. I swear, it’s been like that for the last 5-6 interns I’ve worked with.
When you’re in intern the meat grinder hasn’t ate you up, yet. Everything is new and exciting. The longer I’ve been in my career the less motivation and the more discipline gets me through learning new technologies.
“I can’t imagine being a traditional teacher, and having to teach kids that don’t care.”
What I’ve seen is igniting that spark and moving folks from not caring to caring (or realizing they can affect change) can be even more rewarding than the other mentoring being discussed
But after some introspection, I’ve realized that I love teaching _smart_ people, or at least, people that are engaged and want to learn.
I can’t imagine being a traditional teacher, and having to teach kids that don’t care.
As a side note, some of the sharpest engineers I’ve mentored are interns. Maybe my company is exceptionally good at hiring interns. I swear, it’s been like that for the last 5-6 interns I’ve worked with.