Why you shouldn’t underestimate the power of mentoring

When I joined the railway industry 20 years ago as an engineering apprentice, I was eager to embark on a career building bridges and stations.

I was awestruck by all the individuals and their collective years of experience. I wondered how I could ever amass such knowledge to be able to do what they did.

Fortunately, I’ve been surrounded by amazing mentors willing to invest their time to offer guidance, nurture and advise, and unlock opportunities through effective delegation.

It was vitally important when I first started, because they engaged and inspired me to pursue my goals.

Understand the value of hard work

The first key to development and progress is hard work – being driven to give things a try, to be inquisitive, optimistic and stretch your targets.

Push your boundaries and challenge yourself to step out of your comfort zone. It really is how you learn, particularly when things don’t go quite to plan.

It may be a cliché, but it’s because it’s true. If you can understand why or how you could improve the next time that happens, you’re all the stronger for it.

Moreover, you also gain invaluable experience which you can impart onto others.

Getting reliable feedback

Feedback from those who’ve been there before is vital.

Mentors help to reinforce your strengths and build your confidence, enabling you to see for yourself what you can do.

Similarly, constructive advice can help you see potential blind spots.

This helps you identify smart objectives to help you grow, and possibly even to build better self-awareness of the areas where you can improve or work on.

This applies to technical and interpersonal abilities such as management, leadership and communication skills.

It's so important to have others around you who you can rely on to offer you that advice, or that you know have experience in areas which you may not – even outside of the civil engineering profession.

The mentors that shaped my career

Without doubt, the mentorship I’ve had at various points has helped me to successfully progress throughout my career.

When I started out as a placement student with Network Rail, the senior engineer took me under their wing.

They introduced me to a library of standards and processes, and taught me about different railway sub-systems, their interactions and interfaces.

As a mentor, they have always offered advice, whether it’s a technical problem or career progression.

They're the reason I’ve been able to develop as a contractor’s engineering manager and leader with Story Contracting for the last seven years.

Teaching me why things fail

I also worked with an established project engineer who invested time to support my apprenticeship.

Particularly, in structural assessments and analysis of elements to understand how things work and also fail.

This has been particularly important to me and something I remind my team when thinking about safety-by-design, hazard management and buildability.

Why I decided to become a mentor, too

When I realised my career ambition of becoming chartered in 2021, I felt compelled to become a supervising civil engineer (SCE).

It’s been great to watch several others that I’ve supported to complete their initial professional development.

I was proud to see one of the company’s first graduates I’d helped achieve their chartership, and even more so now as they mentor too as a delegated engineer (DE).

Continuing to help others develop

In my role today, I lead an engineering management team, responsible for developing the skills and competencies needed for technical roles.

At junior levels, it’s mainly site-based development, and at higher levels, I mentor railway responsible engineers and managers.

I also coach line managers to use competency frameworks for assessment and feedback, to identify targets and set objectives to help others progress through delegation.

The trust a professional qualification provides

As Chartered Civil Engineers, mentors have inspired me to follow in their footsteps. I’ve always felt it important to build your confidence to help you perform effectively.

Through professional qualification, you can proudly demonstrate your ability to colleagues and clients in a way that’s recognised by industry peers.

It also helps promote the importance of civil engineering and broaden society’s awareness of the critical work we do. This is a key principle I try to impart on my team and those I support.

The value of mentorship

At any point in your career, mentorship can help you. It offers a safe space to enquire, question, get feedback and advice.

The more you use mentorship, the greater the growth opportunities you will have.

It can be as simple as offering advice and sharing your experience, or it can be more formal like an SCE or DE.

It’s hugely rewarding seeing somebody else grow because of you and the positive impact you’ve had.

You’ll elevate your own profile, gaining trust and recognition among peers, and it may just offer you further career opportunities too.

Find a mentor