June 12, 2024
Two Sides of the Desk: An Intern-Mentor Journey ft. Paras and Nikita at Mercari India
Welcome to Two Sides of the Desk, a blog series where we share the unique experiences, challenges, and triumphs of interns and their mentors. This blog explores the dynamic relationship between mentor and mentee, offering insights from both sides of the desk. Whether you’re a seasoned mentor, a budding intern, or simply curious about the mentorship journey, our stories and reflections aim to inspire, educate, and foster a deeper understanding of this transformative partnership. Mercari India: How do you approach balancing guidance and autonomy for your interns to ensure they’re both learning and contributing meaningfully to projects? Paras: As a mentor, I prioritize a balanced blend of guidance and autonomy to effectively nurture interns’ growth. Thorough onboarding is crucial, introducing them to our systems and pairing them with experienced team members for initial tasks, ensuring seamless integration into our workflow. Early establishment of clear and achievable goals aligns their learning objectives with meaningful contributions to our projects. Beginning with structured assignments, I gradually foster their autonomy as their skills develop.Regular check-ins and constructive feedback sessions are crucial in assisting interns to tackle challenges independently while refining their problem-solving abilities. Collaborative projects play a vital role in providing insights into system interactions and leveraging the collective knowledge of the team. An open-door policy is maintained to encourage questions, facilitate idea sharing, and cultivate a supportive environment where interns can thrive and effectively prepare for future responsibilities. Mercari India: Can you provide an example of a particularly challenging situation you’ve encountered while mentoring an intern, and how you navigated it to ensure their growth and success? Paras: In mentoring Nikita through her journey into backend development, we embarked on a project exploring server-side logic and API development. Initially, Nikita felt a mix of excitement and uncertainty, but I reassured her that growth… <a class="more-link" href="https://about.in.mercari.com/news/two-sides-of-the-desk-an-intern-mentor-journey-ft-paras-and-nikita-at-mercari-india/">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">Two Sides of the Desk: An Intern-Mentor Journey ft. Paras and Nikita at Mercari India</span></a>