IT Department Mentorship

Through a program at my high school, known as Young Professionals Academy (YPA), I had the opportunity to engage in a six week mentorship program. I interned at a company called FST Logistics; a company centered around temperature controlled shipping across the United States. There, my main mentors were Andrew O’brien and Kamaria Banks, but I interacted and spoke with several other individuals across the Technology Solutions Group (TSG). Anyone who’s job revolved around technology joined TSG; think programmers and helpdesk. Every week I got an opportunity to speak with different people and gain an insight into their daily lives. It helped me see how important each person is to keep the business running.

The focus of my mentorship was to improve on my soft skills, as I already possess most of the technical skills I would need to work in an IT environment. I learned the importance of communication during my time. In terms of interacting with someone in the role of user support, how you spoke to them, whether email or in person, leaves a lasting impression. When it comes to tech support, you want people to be willing to reach out to IT, and to have a positive experience with it. When it came to one-on-one conversations I had with people in TSG, being able to keep a running conversation was incredibly important. Being able to adapt a conversation to the person was a valuable skill I learned. My mentors gave me an honest experience of the job; from the slow days with nothing to do, to my last week where everyone was slammed trying to do a company-wide password reset practically overnight.

The focus of my mentorship was to improve on my soft skills, as I already possess most of the technical skills I would need to work in an IT environment. I learned the importance of communication during my time. In terms of interacting with someone in the role of user support, how you spoke to them, whether email or in person, leaves a lasting impression. When it comes to tech support, you want people to be willing to reach out to IT, and to have a positive experience with it. When it came to one-on-one conversations I had with people in TSG, being able to keep a running conversation was incredibly important. Being able to adapt a conversation to the person was a valuable skill I learned. My mentors gave me an honest experience of the job; from the slow days with nothing to do, to my last week where everyone was slammed trying to do a company-wide password reset practically overnight.

The mentorship helped me realize I am on the right path, but I want to focus on a software development role. I met the software engineers at FST Logistics, and they work somewhat isolated from each other, working on separate projects. I hope to find a mentorship centered around a larger development team where I can see how collaboration works in software development, as that is the role I am aiming for. I intend to go to University and get a Computer Science degree to at the very least make connections, but mainly push my knowledge further so I gain a better grasp on complex systems.

I genuinely want to thank FST Logistics and everyone in the Technology Solution Group for allowing me to partake in this incredible opportunity. It helped me learn about myself, and about the professional space. It is much better than a classroom.