Can you share an experience where you mentored or coached a junior engineer on a project? What advice or guidance did you provide, and how did you help them develop their skills?

I was mentoring a new GIS professional and software developer. She had a strong technical background but needed to fill a broad role on a small project, including gathering requirements from users and stakeholders. I described to her the role of a business analyst, which is usually filled by a specialist on a bigger project. Then, I supported her in filling the role of an analyst on the smaller project. Understanding the role and its typical responsibilities and approaches helped her embrace the opportunity to try something new. She expanded her skill set tremendously without having to evaluate her career path or desire to be a strong technical leader. Allowing people to experiment and try on different roles helps separate their identity from the work they are doing. This provides the opportunity to gain experience and new skills. As they reflect on the experience, they can decide how to incorporate it into their career desires.