Mentoring

Why I do this

The first half of my career was not very purposeful. I trained as a computer systems engineer — making microchips — and through a series of incidental choices, ended up making software. I made decisions one step at a time, and while I was growing, there was a point where I couldn’t clearly see what was next. I was lucky: I met someone whose advice took a while to sink in, and once it did, I could see my path clearly.

On one hand I’d like to pay this forward, but what I learned is that I really enjoy playing a role in people advancing. Sometimes there’s a spark in a person they don’t even realise they have — turning that into a direction is extremely fulfilling and I’m grateful for every opportunity to be part of that.

Who it’s for

I want to make myself available to anyone considering joining the product engineering discipline (technical or not) as well as experienced professionals working towards senior and staff roles, or into technical leadership.

About half the people I’ve mentored are engineers; the other half work in product roles like design and ownership. With AI changing how products get built, that distinction matters less than it used to — and getting into the industry is more realistic than most people think.

What it looks like

We meet 1:1 — usually in a café in the evening — and discuss your goals; once we have a direction, I will bring you to industry meetups and events and help you build your network. I’m in London; in person works best, but video is fine if you’re elsewhere. We might discuss:

• ·Whether this industry is right for you — and which role fits
• ·Finding your feet in a first role
• ·Growing into senior and staff engineering
• ·Technical leadership, with or without management
• ·Architecture and systems thinking
• ·Hard career decisions