Michael Dillon <michael@memra.com> wrote:
That 10% mentor is more important than the percentages would suggest because it acts as a catalyst for the other 90%. A good mentor will help a less experienced engineer to make most effective use of their time in learning the trade. It's not enough to just be available to answer questions.
Absolutely. Unfortunately being a teacher is a completely different profession which requires completely different talents. A lot of very good engineers are poor teachers. Having tried to teach professionally i know that it is much harder than it seems. --vadim PS Actually, i do not see shortage of clueful network engineers. What i see is complete lack of clueful managers. Engineers are often left without any useful managerial support, and all too often are simply screwed up by the bad management. That's why i think the fact that good engineers are getting more expensive is positive. When management if forced to pay through the nose for the professional expertise, they more likely feel compelled to follow the offered advice. It is quite possible to run a large backbone with two-three top-notch engineers - providing they can pick their assistants and don't have to spend most of their time dealing with bureaucratic idiocy.