Emerging Professionals

by Virginia Hart, AIA, NCARB

Summary: I graduated from college in 1994 and was eager to become the best architect that I could. I quickly learned, as I’m sure did most who graduated around the same time, that your internship was a baptism by fire. During my internship, I worked for three firms all in the Tulsa area. Each firm focused on different building types and offered different approaches to mentoring, whether they knew it or not.

Early in my career—during the first three years—mentoring was not a formal process. As an intern, I had to take every chance I could to talk and listen to, ask questions of, attend site trips and client meetings with the licensed professionals who were around me. Most of the time I recall being told “not this time” or “it isn’t in the budget.” I don’t ever recall being pulled aside and having someone say, “This is something you should really pay attention to.” or “Hey, why don’t I explain the business side of the practice to you?” The mentoring that occurred was subtle and, in most cases, was when I made a mistake and was given the opportunity to learn from that mistake. In hindsight, that was not the best way to expand my professional knowledge. During those years I learned by observing the type of architects I wanted to become and was becoming, unbeknownst to the professionals around me. You see, I had never really asked any of them to be my formal mentor. Yet they had an effect on me nonetheless.

As it should be
My experience as a mentee instantly changed the day I began my career with my current employer. Our company learned quickly that mentoring was vital to its culture, business success, and our profession. I can honestly say that there were several individuals who took a personal interest in my career. They wanted to see me succeed professionally and personally. I can also honestly say that the mentoring experiences did not always come from licensed professionals or direct supervisors. Many times they came from my peers and others within the company. As an intern you must strive to take something away from every experience you encounter—good, bad, or indifferent.

The individuals who took me under their wings did so willingly and without reservation, as it should be. It was still informal, but nonetheless it was happening. They found ways to get me more client exposure, more exposure in civil coordination, more experience in detailing, and more experience in dealing with general contractors. Granted, it was still a little bit of baptism by fire, but I liked that. I liked the challenge of creating a detail and reviewing it with them without first being given the answer. Instead, I was guided to that answer. I enjoyed the discussions on detailing and why their way, really, was the best. Over time, I began to take great pride when my details, translated from my own ideas, were determined to be the best for the situation.

As my opportunities and experiences grew, so did my confidence. Soon, our conversations were not about me asking questions. Rather, they were about me going to them with a solution or option just to make sure that I was on the right path. I believe that mentoring is not about someone “giving you the answer.” Instead it is about giving you the tools to find that answer for yourself. I also believe that mentoring is about holding individuals accountable for those answers and the reasons behind them. I was fortunate to be given both the tools and the accountability.

Pay it forward
Once I obtained my license, I found myself in new territory. You see, mentoring doesn’t stop once you get that piece of paper; it is and should be a continual process. I was struggling with that as a newly licensed professional, and, once again, our company and those individuals who took a personal interest in my career stepped up and pointed me in the right direction. Soon, I felt able to take on the role as a mentor when I realized that I simply needed to do what my mentors had done for me. What I discovered was that it was time for me to take a more personal interest in the careers of those around me. It was time for me to “pay it forward.”

By definition, mentoring is the act of serving as a trusted counselor or an influential supporter. But what does that really mean? Who does it really affect? What do you as an individual take from the relationship, good or bad? During my career as an intern and now as a licensed architect I can only relate my experiences. We all know that mentoring has changed over the years. Some will say it has changed for the better, while others will say it has not. It is for each person to decide for him or herself, based on the individual’s experiences. But just because it is now a formalized process, as outlined by the Intern Development Program, that doesn’t mean everyone approaches mentoring the same, nor should they.

Mentoring is more than following a program. It is taking that personal interest in an intern or young professional’s career. Mentoring is listening to interns, watching them grow, and helping them take advantage of opportunities that are in front of them. It is providing them with the experiences they need to become the best architect that they can be. That can and will be different for each mentee.

It is taking the time to understand where they are along their journey to licensure and what you can do as a mentor or supervisor to assist them in reaching that goal. It is understanding where they are personally if they are willing to share that information with you. It is little things like reviewing their workload and making sure they have time to study for their architecture exams. It is doing what is right for that individual at that point in time. It is coaching them now so that they reap the benefits later and, in doing that, planting the seed so that they too will pass on their knowledge and experience. Mentoring is vital to a company’s success as much as it is to the individual’s success, and is critical to our entire profession.

Virginia Hart, AIA, NCARB, is an associate and project architect with Scott&Goble Architects. She has a BArch from Oklahoma State University. Scott&Goble Architects is national retail architecture firm headquartered in Tulsa.