Career Growth at Boeing: How Employees Build Flexible Career Paths Through Mentorship and Development Programs

What It’s Like to Build a Career at Boeing

In the more than two decades that Systems Engineer Jenna Flynt has worked at Boeing, she has taken two leaves of absence and at times worked remotely on a part-time basis — all with the support of her managers. 

That’s because building a career at Boeing isn’t about following a traditional set path: it’s about creating your own, with guidance from leaders and opportunities like Boeing’s mentorship and skills development programs.

That’s something Flynt has learned firsthand throughout her career at Boeing. With Boeing’s support, she has been able to make multiple moves with her family and prioritize time with her young children, all while building a multifaceted engineering career. 

“To be successful at Boeing, you don’t have to go with what you think is the traditional route,” Flynt said in an interview posted on the company’s website. 

For Flynt and other employees, Boeing has become a workplace where employees are encouraged to pursue their own path, enabling them to build balanced, dynamic careers. 

Read on to learn how Boeing employees describe mentorship, internships and career development opportunities at the aerospace company.

How Boeing’s Mentorship Programs Support Career Growth

Employees who participate in Boeing’s mentorship programs are partnered with teammates and leaders from across the company who offer insight and help guide them as they advance in their careers. Through Boeing’s six-month Group Enterprise Mentoring (GEM) program, employees can connect with a Boeing leader and/or technical expert, and gain access to tools and resources to help grow their careers. 

 

Flynt: “I had four mentors who believed in me even when I did not believe in myself. I always tell my mentees that anyone can get mentoring from anyone. It’s amazing and so critical to career development.”

Flynt’s mentorship experience led to her taking part in Boeing’s Associate Technical Fellow (ATF) program, a highly selective program that enables employees to refine their technical skills and leadership acumen.

“The ATF route allows me to not only continue leading my work group, but also puts my name out there as a technical expert who can be utilized across other programs,” Flynt said.

 

What the Internship Experience Is Like at Boeing

Boeing’s internship program is designed to give early-career professionals the space to grow their skills, forge connections with others in the industry and work on critical projects. Boeing offers a variety of internships, including engineering, business, IT, and data and analytics. In addition to their day-to-day tasks, interns regularly attend networking events, development seminars, executive engagements, community outreach initiatives and more. 

 

Maja Szymanska, aerospace engineering student: Based in Warsaw, Poland, aerospace engineering student Maja Szymanska said she once felt like “airplanes sprinkled magic from the sky,” and now, she gets to hold that magic in her hands. 

Szymanska currently works on the 737 Make Work Workable team in Rzeszow, Poland, where she streamlines project workflows across multiple departments. Her work has had a major impact on her team so far. During Boeing’s annual LEAN Fest in Gdańsk, for example, she proposed a workflow redesign to reduce document handoffs between teams, which was implemented just a few weeks later. 

“Seeing my suggestion actually change how people work was thrilling,” Szymanska said in an interview posted on Boeing’s website.

 

Mohammed Abdulmujeeb, systems analyst intern: An aerospace engineering student at the University of Maryland, systems analyst intern Mohammed Abdulmujeeb supports the system stress team in Everett, Washington. In an interview on Boeing News Now, he said his classroom lessons complement the Boeing intern experience: “I’m able to use methods that I’ve learned in school to analyze flight-critical components,”  Abdulmujeeb said. “And I’m able to see how my work impacts the world.”

 

Raavi Maur, mechanical engineering student: Raavi Maur has thrived as an intern in Winnipeg, Canada, where he leverages his background as a licensed pilot and mechanical engineering major at the University of Manitoba. A self-proclaimed “airplane nerd,” he has the opportunity to tackle complex projects, like auditing process plans, designing shop aids for 737 sealant testing, and submitting an invention disclosure for an adhesion testing mechanism.

“My projects feed directly into compliance and quality,” Maur said in an interview posted on Boeing’s website. “I wanted to work on the big, real-world problems that actually help make airplanes safer and more efficient, and Boeing delivered on that challenge.”

 

“I wanted to work on the big, real-world problems that actually help make airplanes safer and more efficient, and Boeing delivered on that challenge.”

 

 

How Boeing Trains and Develops Flight Test Engineers

Bill Jaconetti, a Technical Fellow in flight test engineering with Boeing Test & Evaluation: Recently, several Boeing flight test engineers completed the latest session of the Flight Test Conductor / Director Proficiency Accelerator Program, also known as Flight Test Bootcamp. 

Flight Test Bootcamp provides intensive training for flight test engineers who are interested in leading a flight test program. For commercial airplanes, this role is known as a flight test director. For defense aircraft, the role is known as a flight test conductor.  People in this position ensure that flight tests are done safely and effectively. 

“The test conductor or test director role is one that historically has taken years of on-the-job training to perform at a high level,” Technical Fellow Bill Jaconetti said in an interview on Boeing News Now. “This program aims to develop an accelerated path to proficiency. Throughout the company we have significant upcoming flight test programs in our portfolio, and we must ensure our personnel are ready to execute safely.”

 

How Boeing Employees Encourage Aerospace’s Next Generation

Chris Silvano, mobility, surveillance and bombers software engineer: Chris Silvano actively participates in Boeing’s Liftoff for Learning program, an annual back-to-school drive that helps students return to school with necessary supplies so they’re in a better position to thrive in the year ahead. 

During a previous program, the engineer filled his personal vehicle with school supplies and delivered them to Oklahoma City schools. It was an experience that hit close to home, since Silvano remembers when Boeing employees visited his high school when he was a student, which helped him envision a career in STEM.

“Now, I can be there for the next generation as they dream of theirs,” Silvano shared in an interview posted on Boeing’s website. “At Liftoff for Learning events, you get to see positive reactions from the students, parents and teachers. It brings me satisfaction to think I did my part.”

 

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