This webinar will explore how people can find good mentors and how you can become a mentor.
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Synopsis
Olivia Wolfheart
As I have had experience on both sides of the mentoring coin, in this talk I will take you through my experience as a mentee including why I decided to find a mentor, how I found one and what I gained from the relationship. I will also give some insight into my experience of being a mentor, what was involved and the outcomes. In addition I will share a reminder of the updated BCS Career Mentoring Network tool and the service it provides to BCS members.
Sam White - Career Switching, Quality Assurance, and Self-doubt
Sam White has been a QA Analyst at Gear4music Manchester for 2 years. He will be giving a quick rundown of how he became a tester and talking about the mentoring he’s received in the testing field since joining Gear4music. Sam will also be talking about the self-doubt and walls he hit as he transitioned from IT Support into specialising to QA Analyst.
Andy Shaw
Andy has found mentoring invaluable for his career development and he will discuss how being mentored has inspired him to grow as a professional, as well as a tester. He will explain how mentoring also developed himself as well as his mentees, and what inspired him to mentor others.
He will explain how he has found the BCS Mentoring Tool, used by BCS members, valuable to connecting to mentees (from all walks of life) whom he has helped develop their careers, and how the BCS mentoring tool can also help people find mentors and mentees, regardless of their stage in their career.
Andy will also explain the traits of a good mentor and how anyone wishing to be mentored can find a good mentor to help with their career development. His talk will include how the SIGiST Public Speaking Mentoring Scheme which ran back in 2016 helped him to develop his skills as a public speaker.
Nicola Martin
My Mentorship Experience and How You Can Get The Most Out of Mentoring. Nicola is passionate about supporting and encouraging diverse groups in tech. Her talk will cover her experiences as a mentor for the BCS and AFBE-UK, and her most recent role as Head of Education and Mentorship for Women in Tech® UK. She will also discuss the benefits of the mentor/mentee relationship.
About the speakers
Olivia Wolfheart
Olivia started her career teaching GCSE computer science at a secondary school in Hampshire. She has also had extensive experience working with students in other capacities including at a small charity supporting young people with digital skills and online safety. In her role at BCS Olivia is working on a range of different initiatives to help improve the BCS member experience, including improvements to the BCS Career Mentoring Network. Olivia is passionate about the power of mentoring. She has had experience both being a mentor to young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and has benefitted from career mentoring herself.
Sam White
Sam White lives in Manchester and has been working in IT for almost 20 years, in IT support and as an IT Support Manager. He recently switched to a testing career to specialise in QA and his professional goal is to become proficient in testing and test automation, improving the user experience at every opportunity. An avid PC gamer, Sam keeps healthy cycling and running and is a surprisingly good drawer.
Andy Shaw
Andy Shaw is a Tester, who focused on a career in software testing whilst developing a career in the IT Industry. He has gained experience in testing software within the following industries: geological, cargo and shipping, defence and lone working.
Andy is passionate about promoting and increasing diversity and inclusion in the IT Industry as well as testing and arranges events to encourage people from all walks of life to develop their careers.
Andy is the Editor of the Tester online magazine, the official magazine of the BCS Specialist Interest Group in Software Testing (SIGiST), as well as the Chair of the South Yorkshire BCS branch. He also delivers talks about software testing, career development and mental health. He has also mentored, and continues to mentor, professionals who are interested in developing a career in software testing, both within the BCS Mentoring Network and outside of BCS.
Nicola Martin
Nicola is currently working in the AI and Data Science field as Head of Quality at Adarga.
Nicola has many years of experience focusing on quality for high-profile tech projects. She specialises in working with companies to build high-performance teams, produce strategies, improve processes, and create high-quality deliverables for customers.
Nicola is passionate about increasing diversity and inclusion in software engineering. As well as being a speaker and panellist taking part in events championing quality and tech, she also mentors and coaches professionals wanting to change careers and others wishing to develop their career in tech.
She is a committee team member for BCSWomen and the Special Interest Group in Software Testing (SIGiST). She is Head of Education & Mentorship for Women in Tech® UK, and mentors for the BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, and The Association For Black & Minority Ethnic Engineers (AFBE-UK).
Our events are for adults aged 16 years and over.
This event is brought to you by: BCS Software Testing specialist group
