Lessons from the AWS She Builds Mentorship Program

Earlier in the year I made a lengthy application to the AWS She Builds Mentorship Program which I had little knowledge about except seeing multiple LinkedIn posts about it. About 3 months later, I got accepted to the program and I was excited to be part of a community of women who are keen to hold my hand as I navigate the tech world. 

According to the website, the AWS She Builds Mentorship Program, established in 2021, is a free 12-week program designed to create an inclusive and supportive environment for career development within an evolving network of women in technology. 

My first 3 weeks were rough, my first mentor did not answer my emails or my LinkedIn messages and I notified the organizers that I needed to be rematched, at which point I slowly lost interest in the program. In the 2nd month, I reached out to my new mentor and after a brief introduction about my then vague objectives, I realized I had landed in the best position I could have ever asked for. Here are the lessons I quickly learned from my 12-week experiences;

Lesson 1. Be specific with your objective for the program. 

I had more than 6 unsuccessful interviews for BIM Coordinator roles between January and July 2023 and I didn't stop to ask myself what could possibly be going wrong until I mentioned it to my mentor and this became the objective of my program; Identifying the weak points in my interviews. 

Lesson 2. Readjust your expectations and intentions as you're presented with more information

I thought it was easy enough to discuss what I was doing wrong at the interview stage but in talking about this I found out that I was not necessarily interested in the intersection of programming and construction, instead, I have always been passionate about programming and I was looking for an easy way into the tech world by applying for a computational design role. My second objective came up; I needed the tools for a career switch from project architecture where I've had nearly 10 years of academic and professional experiences to Python programming where I had embarked on a 2-year long self-taught program.  

Lesson 3. Embrace vulnerability, it's important to put all your cards on the table

This must have been the most difficult part of the mentorship for me, to admit that I do actually feel inadequate to apply for Python Developer roles because I am competing against people with a richer academic and professional experience than myself. My mentor gave me a simple yet powerful exercise, to stand in front of the mirror and remind myself daily that I am a great Python Developer, whether I believe it or not, until it becomes a reality that I believe in. 

Lesson 4. For every exercise issued, if you do not practice it, it's all in vain

Part of my session involved relooking at my CV, my LinkedIn profile, my short and long pitch, and my cover letter. I also learned about the STAR method to come up with stories from my architecture background that show my strengths; identifying situations that revealed key aspects of my character. Another important task was writing down transferable skills from architecture to programming. 

Lesson 5. An obvious one is good communication regarding availability

Goes without saying that it is crucial to keep your mentor updated in case you're not able to attend a session. I made my share of mistakes with this at the beginning, due to the differences in time zones and a hectic work schedule where I would travel regularly, I forgot to inform my mentor that I would be unavailable for a session. 

Lesson 6. Showing interest in your mentor's work

I learned this towards the end, it's important to do some background research about your mentor's professional and academic background and make conversations around that. It could be a search on the weather in their location and asking more about it. "I read online that it's Spring in your area, is this your favorite season?"