Laura Scott is a quality program manager at Northrop Grumman. She shares why she thinks it’s important to find a mentor during your career and why being a mentor is also a valuable learning journey.
Seeking the guidance of a mentor
Laura studied mechanical engineering at university then began working for Northrop Grumman. She was part of the quality engineering team, focusing on process control and testing material properties. Early on in her career, Laura asked for advice informally from Northrop Grumman employees that she looked up to and then went to seek out a mentor within the company.
Laura found Art Lofton, former Vice President of Global Mission Excellence for the Northrop Grumman's Aerospace Systems sector, through the company's Women in Leadership Programme. Laura and Art would meet once a month to discuss her career goals, such as a move within Northrop Grumman.
“A mentor can motivate you to go out there and take some risks,” says Laura.
Considering the bigger picture
Laura was then mentored by Chris Hernandez, Vice President of engineering for Aerospace Systems, through the Northrop Grumman's VP mentoring program. Laura was able to network with executives within Northrop Grumman, in particular women engineers in leadership roles. Laura had a great opportunity to meet women who were pursuing successful careers in male-dominated industry.
Chris also helped Laura consider her career within the bigger picture of Northrop Grumman. This helped Laura's perspective change from one of tackling day-to-day goals to thinking about the long-term.
Chris also introduced Laura to people outside the engineering field, which improved Laura's communication skills as she came face to face with a wide variety of people. This also developed her managerial skills, which was vital as she progressed within Northrop Grumman.
“If you want to develop in a career or go into management, mentoring really helps with those interpersonal managerial issues that aren’t taught much in STEM fields,” says Laura.
Giving something back
After many years of receiving invaluable mentoring, Laura is now giving something back to Northrop Grumman. She is a mentor of junior-level employees - who have impressed Laura with their high-level knowledge of technology when starting their jobs. Laura wants teach these employees what she's learned from her experience of mentoring but, even though the roles are now reversed, she is still on a learning journey.
“Even if you don’t have a lot work experience, those life experiences can be just as helpful at providing a different point of view to problems,” says Laura.
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