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Becoming a mentor, why and how?

Becoming a mentor, why and how?

I've been actively mentoring developers in the past few years, in this talk I'd like to go over how I went from a position of being mentored to being the mentor, what mistakes I made along the way and what I learned. We will also respond to the false statement of "mentoring is a waste of time" and look at some key points such as:
- mentoring, not micromanaging
- creating a safe space where it's okay to make mistake
- identifying areas that can be improved and coming up with a plan
- developing a culture around pair programming

Talk given at Droidcon Berlin 2021 & Android Makers 2022

Florian Mierzejewski

October 22, 2021
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Transcript

  1. Trade Republic •We believe everybody should have easy, fast and

    free access to capital markets. •Save money and build your wealth with personal savings plans on ETFs and stocks – all free of commission. •We are a tech company with a banking license.  3
  2. What is mentoring •Learning relationship between an experienced person (mentor)

    and someone who wants to grow (mentee) •In software engineering it’s usually a more senior engineer that mentors a more junior engineer •Probably something you are already doing to some extend or received in the past  4
  3. Why mentoring? • Mentees have a fresh outlook on the

    project • Helping the mentee by serving as a link to the rest of the team • Industry-wide lack of developers, worse at the senior level • Giving back to the community, remember when you started your career? • Building long lasting professional relationships  6
  4. First catch-up •Making the mentee feel at ease, joining a

    new company is stressful •Setting the expectations for the fi rst few months •It’s ok if mistake happens, it’s even expected •There is no such thing as a “stupid” question  8
  5. Going over the codebase together • What is the history?

    • What are some of the most important components? • What issues do we have at the moment, how do we plan on addressing them? • Depending on the questions that are asked (or not!) it is a good fi rst glimpse into where the mentee might lack knowledge • Asking about what they are interested to learn / want to get better at  9
  6. First tasks •Company onboarding, reading wiki and documentation •Going through

    the codebase, writing down everything they don’t understand / want to chat about. •Going through all open PRs and asking questions •Learning plan  10
  7. Keep it going • A lot of pairing • Add

    pairing blocks in their calendar • Assign small bugs / maintenance tasks but nothing too vital / with a deadline on it • Time and patience  12
  8. Solving skills • Writing / refactoring code step by step

    that always compile • Simplicity over “over-engineering” • Finding the best solution to a problem while taking into account constraints • Taking a step back  14
  9. Soft skills •Bringing someone up to speed in a timely

    manner •Participating e ff i ciently to meetings •Avoiding following blindly  15
  10. Organisational skills • Timeboxing • Using tools more e ff

    ectively • Healthy working habits  16
  11. Presenting skills •Writing a good PR description •Self-review •How small

    is too small and how big is too big •Commenting etiquette  17
  12. Things to keep in mind • Delivering constant feedback •

    Celebrating successes • Guiding but not telling them what to do • Adapting the pace of the mentorship as you go  18
  13. Conclusion •Creating a safe environment where the mentee can grow

    •Pairing is the best tool you have at your disposal •Always keep an eye open on what can be improved / what has been improved  20