Someone to lean on One of your first items of business in a new job should be to seek out a mentor to help you understand the company, its mission and your role in it. As part of a yearlong, postgraduate internship as a Web applications developer at AIG Claim Services in New York, Holinka was working on the global insurance company's Intellirisk application. The Web-based program lets AIG's corporate customers notify the company that they will be filing a claim and incorporates many of the same components as other AIG applications. His mentor saved Holinka considerable time and enabled him to construct a more flexible application by clueing him into the concept of using design patterns, which solve a range of common software problems.
Mentors can be great technology teachers.
More important, they can help guide interns and recent graduates through the culture shock of corporate life - something that can't be conveyed in the halls of the ivory tower. By watching a successful mentor, you adopt their behavior and their skill sets. You learn by seeing what works and what doesn't. The style and structure of mentoring programs vary widely. The mentor acts as both direct supervisor and guidance counselor.