Finding a mentor is one of the best ways to begin or advance your career in NDT. ASNT spoke with two mentors and their mentees to learn how they connected, how their mentoring relationship developed, and what insights have been gained from having or being a mentor.
Scott Rose (Mentor) and Chris Garcia
How did your mentoring relationship start?
Chris
My NDT journey started after I graduated from aircraft maintenance school, where then I started my career with an aerospace prime. That’s where I met Scott. I got introduced to red dye penetrant in the aircraft school, but at the aerospace prime I started actually seeing the different methods that were going around me, and I kept asking questions. And then finally, many years later after being an aircraft inspector, I ran across Scott. I started picking his brain, and he took interest in me from all the conversations I was having and all these questions, and he said, “Oh, let me walk you through this method.” And that kind of developed my love for NDT.
Scott
There’s a saying: “I can’t want it for you.” So, you meet people that have that ambition and people that don’t. And every time I walked the hallways in our company on the shop floor to check X-rays or radiation safety signs or whatever the case may be, interacting with our inspectors down there, Chris was always jumping on me and was very inquisitive about, “What is NDT? What are the different methods? What are you guys doing in CR, in those X-ray booths? How can I get involved in that? It seems pretty interesting.” When I see that in a teammate, especially someone coming up fresh, I love it. Because it’s something I’m passionate about.
Chris
The mentorship between us started organically. Like I said, when I first stepped into the company, I was a visual inspector doing aircraft inspections, and I just wanted to get deeper into the inspection aspect. What other techniques can I do besides visual? How else can I aid myself, make my craft easier? And then again, Scott was the one that was really answering my questions and took interest in me—because I kept bothering him, to say the least!
What have you both gotten out of this mentoring relationship?
Scott
As an older NDT inspector, I’ve learned a lot about my love for teaching the new and up-and-coming rock stars of our industry. I’ve gained perspectives from a younger generation of inspectors and the understanding that by teaching, you’re also learning. Because as Level IIIs, we get so high-up and so detached sometimes from our real career passion, which is actually shooting X-rays, or developing film, or imaging plates, or whatever the case may be. We get so detached from that the higher we rise up, and these kinds of interactions bring you back to your love of why you got into NDT in the first place.
Chris
Something I’ve taken away is to mentor the next generation. There are so many opportunities out there for people, but it’s hard for them to have those opportunities when they don’t know. So that’s definitely something I’m trying to piggyback, to grow the next generation based on what he showed me. Because there’s a lot of people that have interest; they just don’t know the path or where they want to go.
What advice would you give to someone who either wants to become or find a mentor?
Scott
So as a mentor, what you really want to do is get with someone who’s ambitious. Listen to them. See what their goals are. Don’t try to project your vision onto them. And then just kind of walk them through the path to where they don’t have to spend, you know, five years off in left field not following the right steps to get them to their objective. I’ve always heard the saying that, once you reach the top floor, it’s your responsibility to send the elevator back down. So that’s kind of how I view mentoring and mentorship.
Chris
And as a mentee looking in, don’t be scared to get out there and talk to people. I got really involved in ASNT by being partnered up with Scott as a mentee on the ASNT website. So, just because you can’t find a resource at your facility, or at your company, or on the rig you’re on, reach out. Check out ASNT’s links, get involved: people are out there to help you. I mean, I even attended the monthly meetings and there’s a lot of mentors in your area that are looking for mentees and are willing to help. So, don’t be scared, jump in. It’s fun.
You can listen to the full conversation with Scott and Chris on the January episode of Chat NDT with ASNT, available on this blog or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Michael Allgaier (Mentor) and Sean Standiford
How did your mentoring relationship start?
Mike
I volunteered through ASNT’s Mentoring Program and got my first assignment in 2017, and then these last two years, I’ve had the great pleasure of mentoring Sean, who is a great guy, and we’ve had a wonderful relationship.
Sean
When I first saw the Mentoring Program, I had just started in NDT for maybe six months or so, and it was a very large, confusing world, especially seeing all the different methods. I was only exposed to a very small chunk of it. So, I was mostly just looking for somebody to help me make sense of everything that was going on.
Mike
In the beginning we would meet monthly. I gave him guidance, and we finally got to a comfort level where we knew each other. He had things that he wanted to do to accomplish, so I just needed to talk to him once in a while to see if he was on track for the plan that he was supposed to follow. And it was his plan, not my plan, but I talked to him about the elements and what he should be addressing and what was a realistic timeframe. So, then it became about every two months.
What have you both gotten out of this mentoring relationship?
Mike
There is the satisfaction of helping somebody else. You have to be an active listener. You can’t always be promoting yourself. I’ve tried to pass on many things that I’ve learned, not just the technical stuff.
Sean
I wasn’t really sure about the benefits of mentoring when I first started the program. I wasn’t sure what I was going to get of it or what I was going to become. But it’s been very helpful to just have somebody to talk to that’s outside of my organization, outside of my circle. Any time I have a career change or a situation at work, it’s nice to be able to have somebody that I can call and talk to and just get a totally unbiased opinion.
What advice would you give to someone who either wants to become or find a mentor?
Mike
To the mentor, it’s important to understand your role is to listen. You’re not there to tell somebody what to do. You’re there to be a sounding board for them and listen for areas where they might be at risk, and your knowledge of life and career can help them avoid those risk. You should have no selfish concerns at all as a mentor. You should be there only to help the other person.
Sean
For people thinking about the mentoring program, think about what you are looking to get out of the program. You’re probably not going to find a mentor that can find you a job or really give you a lot of technical training, as far as classroom hours. But think about the wisdom that you can get from somebody who’s been in the industry a long time and has more than likely been in your exact shoes for a lot of situations.
If you want to learn more about mentoring resources from ASNT, visit mentoring.asnt.org.