Making the decision to move into a different role, sector, or industry can be scary. Many mentees who want to make a career change struggle with confidence when it comes to feeling assured that a career change is the right choice, identifying and presenting their transferable skills, and taking the next step to find a job in a new field.
We asked Femme Palette mentor Julie Klimentová about the strategy she used to help her navigate a career change and secure a job in IT.
How to switch to a new industry?
Julie’s mentee wanted to change her career direction from studying ecology to studying and pursuing a career in IT. Her main challenges revolved around gaining confidence in her skills relating to her new desired career path. When it came to this, the thing that the mentee needed most was someone to help her through particular problems with coding as well as someone she could trust to guide her through any obstacles that she encountered without judgment. Familiar with the challenges her mentee faced as a woman in IT, Julie was happy to offer this kind of support.
Sharing experience, resources, and contacts
Julie used a combination of sharing her own experience with regard to the obstacles she had to overcome on her career path and recommending helpful resources that would help support her mentee on the way to reaching her goals. Additionally, Julie also connected her mentee with a senior frontend developer who could help answer some of her mentee’s more specific questions.
When it came to how the mentoring sessions were run, the mentee came well prepared for the meetings and presented the issues she was currently dealing with at that moment. The mentoring pair then worked together towards a resolution. One example of this was when the mentee was working on her showcase website. Julie supported her by providing valuable feedback on the code and design she had prepared, which helped the mentee refine her project.
Julie also supported her mentee by sharing useful online courses with her as well as her personal approach to problem solving, which the mentee could then apply to her own challenges going forward.
“I particularly appreciated my mentee’s motivation and also sense of humor. We always had a lot of fun during our meetings which made any issues easier to overcome.” - Julie Klimentová, Femme Palette mentor
A new job secured
It paid off in the end because Julie’s mentee got a job as a junior developer. While Julie feels confident that her mentee would have reached that goal with or without her support, she believes that the mentorship probably made her mentee’s path to getting there much smoother.
“I would say mainly work on confidence in problem-solving. I have seen rather often people starting a new career path in IT (especially women, including myself) doubting themselves to the point of decision paralysis. I believe overcoming that is the way to success.” - Julie Klimentová, Femme Palette mentor
Could you use some guidance from a mentor like Julie? Check out our Mentoring program where you’ll be matched for up to 12 hours of mentoring with an experienced mentor from our global community.
If you’d like to share your experience and help someone progress in their career like Julie did, become a mentor with Femme Palette! And if you’re not sure if you have what it takes to be a mentor, take our Mentor quiz to find out!
