Mentor Spotlight: Neha Jain
Neha Jain, Senior Software Engineer at LinkedIn, definitively sets the example of how the tech community should mature. Neha’s résumé is impressive, and once you add on initiatives she’s contributing to outside of her 9-5 at LinkedIn, her work ethic becomes very apparent. Neha’s journey to tech was hard fought and well earned and it is her belief that if she doesn’t provide for aspiring software engineers the way her mentors did for her, then really… what’s the point?
Neha very strongly believes in democratizing the knowledge and sharing the information across the industry and the world. “it’s important to me to pay forward what I received.” explains Neha. This notion coupled with her admiration for project-based learning made her a fit for Holberton School’s mentor program. Neha was attracted to Holberton’s curriculum in addition to its business model; no upfront tuition costs. Jain points out the benefit that “students are free to learn without the looming financial stress” and as she explains her draw to learning by doing, you could say that Holberton and Neha are a perfect match.
She shares how mentoring is gratifying in itself, but also mutually beneficial. When posed with the question – Have you grown professionally due to mentorship? – Neha emphatically explains how mentoring is a way for her to grow personally and professionally. Neha sets a scene where mentees are asking questions she never even thought to ask, or proposes a solution to a problem she had never considered. All of these things are of added benefit to Neha; tools and information to be stored in her toolbox of professional development. Framing her experience by stating “Mentoring has helped me to unlock the other side of my career” is perhaps the biggest example of this symbiotic mentor/mentee relationship. Through mentoring, Neha further developed her management and leadership skills bolstering her already glowing personal brand.
By modeling the mentor behavior and cultivating a transparent view of her journey, Neha’s success is a roadmap for the next class of software engineers. Neha demonstrates that your education does not and should not end after your classes are complete. This type of example enriches the tech community on a broader scale, allowing future engineers to strive for the type of leadership Neha has displayed throughout her career.