Fort Belvoir, VA –
DCAA knows that mentorships offer an invaluable opportunity for members of the workforce to gain insight from someone who has walked in their shoes. There are several reasons why mentors can be great for your career:
Mentors possess a wealth of knowledge. Mentors offer years of experience that can widen your perspective in ways you would never have considered. Mentors also have insider knowledge into established DCAA processes and overall best practices that can help you avoid mistakes. The wisdom you gain from mentors can help shorten your learning curve and accelerate your career.
Mentors help facilitate your growth. Mentors help pave the way for you to succeed by pushing for your professional and personal growth. DCAA employees in this role may do this by coaching your work ethic, encouraging your ideas, helping you brainstorm solutions, or recommending educational or career development opportunities specific to your role.
Mentors serve as advisors. Mentors are great people to come to for advice on how to approach a problem. Their role as an advisor is to tell you what you ‘need to hear’ rather than just what you ‘want to hear’. This can help strengthen your emotional intelligence as you are choosing to listen to opinions outside of your own.
Mentorships at DCAA
So how do you go about finding a mentor at DCAA? DCAA has two programs to pair mentees with mentors who can help with their career growth.
DCAA Mentoring
DCAA offers a formal 10-month mentoring program that matches mentees with mentors who can help them develop technical skills, soft skills, and their leadership style. This mentorship program pairs employees to help provide ongoing support of their career.
DCAA Coaching
This 12-month formal coaching program is required for all new auditors and supervisors. It allows coaches to share their expertise, skills, perspectives, and lessons learned with newer employees. This program is more task-oriented and performance-driven so that new employees improve their performance during their first year at DCAA.