Experiences of Mentoring in Tech: An interview with Fafa Dzide
As a strong advocate of mentorship, particularly in the field of UX, I wanted to create a series based on mentorship to bring to life experiences from others and highlighting the importance of peer-to-peer learning. I also want to highlight the power of mentoring in creating diversity and inclusion in the field of tech.
Within this series, I will be interviewing mentees to find out about how they have developed through mentorship and how it has helped them with career growth and provide encouragement in their chosen area.
In this blog post, I will be focusing on a mentee’s experience from the Black Valley (BV)’s 8-week mentoring programme; an initiative that helps to address the lack of diversity in tech by increasing the black tech pipeline and incubating black-led start-ups.
Here I interviewed Fafa Dzide, a mentee of BV’s April Cohort who was seeking UI/UX advice to grow within this field
1. How did you find your mentor?
I found my mentor through the Black Valley programme. I found her helpful, friendly and encouraging as a mentor.
2. What were your core reasons for finding a mentor?
I wanted to learn more about UX/UI design and what it’s like working in industry.
3. What outcomes did you want to achieve from mentorship?
I wanted to build a relationship with someone in the industry and learn from their experiences. I also wanted to be pointed in the right direction with my portfolio and career.
4. What were the mentoring sessions like and how did they help to achieve your overall goal?
The mentoring sessions were held over Zoom and involved questions being asked and answered, advice, demonstrations, resource sharing and general conversation. They helped me improve my skills and learn more about the industry.
5. How did you find accountability from the sessions to complete set tasks or sanctions after the sessions?
The sessions motivated me to learn more and improve my skills through advice and activities set after the sessions.
6. How have your skills and knowledge improved since being mentored?
I started learning Figma, as well as being made aware of other UX/UI tools and learned new design techniques and methods. I also know more about working in industry from the Mentor’s own personal experiences.
7. How did you find the mentee-mentor relationship and how did you maintain it?
It was good to talk to and be able to relate to somebody else in industry. We maintained the relationship through weekly Zoom meetings and emails.
