Anthony Ehimare - Mentoring Gave Me Leadership Skills

Why did you want to get involved in mentoring initially?

Phineas Arkorful, the Alumni Network co-ordinator, contacted me about the programme. As someone who had gone through the Black Internship Programme in 2022 I wanted to use mentoring to encourage newcomers to participate in data science careers and to support them after the programme.

What did the mentoring involve?

I discovered it was more than I initially thought and realised it was going to give me some leadership skills and qualities. During the mentoring relationship I supported my mentee with interviews and job applications

What benefits did it bring?

Wanting to lead and support people is a big part of my personality and this drew me into mentoring. I also found that mentoring keeps me on my toes;  my mentee would ask questions that I couldn’t immediately answer and that would inspire me to do further research into new areas of learning. It’s more like a two way learning process as well as something I enjoy.

What would you say to others thinking of joining the HDR UK Alumni Network Mentoring Programme?

They should go for it. It is beneficial in many ways and a good way to get experience leading. I found it was not only an opportunity to give back but also a process of learning which could translate into doing better in my day to day job. I felt it developed my people management skills by learning how to deal with different people, listen to them and open up opportunities to those people.

What are your future career ambitions?

To advance and in my data analytics and modelling career- currently there is a lot of modelling flow programmes for dealing with workflow in the NHS. I would like to be involved in modelling solutions that help to support these.