Mentoring junior devs

Jan 23, 2020 6 Comments

Senior devs, how do you mentor/help junior devs?
For example - I have one rule that I don't touch their keyboard or message them the entire solution. I tell them keywords, which they google if they don't know, and thereby learn much more than just the solution to their problem.

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TOP 6 Comments
  • Google
    0400

    Go to company page Google

    0400
    I try to tell them that it’s okay to fail; and failing teaches you more than success does.

    Generally I keep their work such that it’s confined to a small part of the codebase (think < 5-8 files). This allows them to learn and take ownership.

    I also explain the necessary stuff at a birds eye overview and point them to the crucial logic so that they can form a mental picture and ask me questions.

    Just nudge them enough so that they can uncover answers; never micromanage; and mentorship is a serious responsibility - I allot 10% of my quarterly work budgeting to mentorship.
    Jan 23, 2020 0
  • Amazon
    coronaV

    Go to company page Amazon

    coronaV
    Be sure to tell them why, not just how.
    Jan 23, 2020 0
  • Oracle
    LakersFan

    Go to company page Oracle

    LakersFan
    Give them a small side project to do POC(proof of concept). I asked my junior to implement test automation in any of the Microservices and teach other team members.
    Jan 23, 2020 0
  • ONEHOPE Wine / Eng
    WdnE20

    ONEHOPE Wine Eng

    WdnE20
    How do you teach them company specific business logic and company specific context?
    Jan 23, 2020 1
  • New
    qfvA23

    New

    qfvA23
    Develop their creative problem solving abilities as much as you can early on. Encourage them to do things like hackathons or CTFs if applicable as a group, because they really push the limits of your skills and creative technical thought processes. To me that’s the most important part of being a dev, to be able to see a number of solutions to a problem rather than rigging something up in the one language / way they know how to currently.

    Also getting them to think about scalability and other long-term concepts at the outset of a project, makes them more efficient and reduces refactoring later on.
    Jan 23, 2020 0