[OFF-TOPIC] How do I find a mentor when no one I work with knows what they are doing?

[Gene Heskett]

On Tuesday 08 April 2014 10:52:39 Larry Martell did opine:

> On Tue, Apr 8, 2014 at 3:07 AM, James Brewer <james at brwr.org> wrote:
> > I'm sure there will be a substantial amount of arrogance perceived
> > from this question, but frankly I don't think that I have anything to
> > learn from my co-workers, which saddens me because I really like to
> > learn and I know that I have a lot of learning to do.
> > 
> > I've been employed as a software engineer for about eight months now
> > and I feel like I haven't learned nearly as much as I should. Sure,
> > I've picked up little tidbits of information here and there, but I'm
> > no more confident in my ability to build anything more complex than a
> > basic crud app than I was the day I started.
> 
> I don't know where you work, but there are all sorts of different
> working environments. I've been at this for 35 years and I think I've
> seen most of them. I've worked at places where:
> 
Ditto, but make it 65 years in electronics for me.

> -People were afraid you'll take their job and they won't answer
> questions or spend time to bring you up to speed on the company's
> systems

A minor pet peeve I don't generally tolerate, I relocate.
 
> -People who you're working with either were against hiring you or were
> not involved in the hiring process and won't work with you.

Not been a huge problem unless the place was unionized.
> 
> -People are on crazy deadlines and have no time to work with you.
> 
Typical sales force.  They don't see a single problem when it takes 
expensive parts to fix, except they won't authorize that P.O.  It generally 
takes a while for them to get the message about the cost of doing business.  
In my time, I change two general managers above me because of that.

> -People have tried to work with you, but don't want to anymore because
> ______ (fill in the blank: you're arrogant, you're stupid, you smell,
> you don't learn fast enough for them, you like the Yankees and they're
> a Red Sox fan, ....)

You mean there are fans besides steelers fans?
> 
> -People make you feel like an idiot when you ask a question and they
> intimidate you so you don't come back and ask more.

That generally only happens a couple times, I am good at making them eat 
their words.
 
> -The culture requires some 'trial by fire' where you stand up to
> people and/or make it known you're not going away and won't take crap
> from anyone.

Absolutely, you cannot assert yourself any other way.  And if you do it in 
front of the owner, he is your friend for life.
 
> -The new hire sits around and waits for things to happen instead
> making things happen themselfs.

Where I may sit around when not fixing something, but I am watching for 
repetitive operations that can better be handled by pushing a few buttons 
on a micro panel so they can go get a cuppa, it will be done perfectly when 
they come back.  Then I start coding.  It took me 6 months as I had to make 
most of the hardware too, but the first such project I made for a tv 
station was still in use 15 years later, written in assembly without an 
assembler and full of self modifying code, only crashed when a power 
failure outlasted the backup battery, and another I made for the last 
station I was at was only retired when a $250,000 video switcher was 
retired, about 14 years.
 
> -There is absolutely nothing interesting going on at the company - no
> new development, no hard bugs to track down - and the people they work
> there are lazy and slothy, just marking time until they can retire.

Those sorts don't normally last till retirement age at a tv station.  
Caught out enough times and the room will be given to someone who can 
produce. TV broadcasting is a very competitive field.

> -People are super patient and helpful and they answer all your
> questions and go beyond the call of duty to help you.

A utopia very few will ever find.
 
> Do any of these apply to your situation?

See above.  This is what you might get when you ask the question.

Cheers, Gene
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