Andrey VODOPYANOV: finding an individual approach to each student

Andrey Vasilyevich Vodopyanov has been working in the energy sector for 37 years. For him, as for many of his generation, the most important thing in his work is to perform his duties conscientiously. His mentoring experience, which spans more than a decade, is equally impressive. Over the years, Andrei Vodopyanov, shift supervisor of the AlES ZTK maintenance team, has trained more than 30 young energy specialists.

– “Mentoring is an opportunity for me to pass on my experience and knowledge to young people,” says Andrey Vasilyevich. By training newcomers, we leave a positive mark, make an important contribution to the development of the energy industry, and leave a good memory of ourselves. And for me, the most important thing in life is to be in demand and needed, to leave good memories of myself as a professional and as a person. In my understanding, the value of mentoring lies in the fact that you can pass on to newcomers not only your own work experience, but also the key principles of building relationships in the workplace. By training young employees, we contribute to their personal growth and help them to realize their potential, both professionally and in life. I am very happy when such painstaking and difficult work yields good results. That is why many of my students remain in my memory. I will never forget the sparkle in their eyes when they acquire new knowledge and strive to learn more and more about their chosen profession every day. At such moments, I truly feel needed by young professionals, our company, and the entire energy sector.

But mentoring is also hard work and requires you to learn new things yourself. Especially teaching methods and how to build good relationships with students. At the same time, it’s important to develop the qualities you need to be a teacher. In essence, teaching becomes the second profession of an energy mentor. And here as well Andrey Vasilyevich has his own approaches, rules and tricks, developed over a decade of mentoring.

“The most important qualities for a mentor are patience, restraint and the ability to find an approach to each student,” Andrey Vodopyanov summed up his formula for teaching. Mentoring is necessary for the company, given that the industry is complex and classified as hazardous, requiring highly qualified personnel. Moreover, personnel who are knowledgeable about the specific production process in which they work. And this knowledge, and therefore a kind of guarantee for the enterprise, is provided by the mentor. Mentoring is also important for newcomers, because young employees who join the company usually only have theoretical knowledge gained from books. Here, with the support of a mentor, they see the production process with their own eyes and have the opportunity to apply their knowledge in practice under the careful supervision of the mentor. This means they can become the specialists that the station needs.

When embarking on a career as a mentor, it is not uncommon for production teachers to develop their own methods through trial and error, relying on intuition, observation and work experience. But it is not that easy.

“Currently, the main difficulty in mentoring is finding an individual approach to each student and getting them interested in learning,” says Vodopyanov, an energy engineer and teacher, speaking candidly about the challenges of teaching. Fortunately, I am able to do this. And here I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my first and best mentor, Vladimir Alekseevich Smirny. He taught me all of these approaches and teaching techniques; you could even say that he programmed them into me. Today, this pedagogical background is yielding good results.

Andrey Vasilyevich hopes that the young people he trains will be professional, responsible and reliable in their work. This gives him hope that the company and the industry will eventually pass into the hands of competent, qualified specialists.

“I wish all my colleagues accident-free work, no matter how difficult the times and circumstances they have to work in. I advise everyone to always be positive, because this attitude is another component of regular work, a healthy team spirit and a successful life,” concludes the mentor.