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

Transcript

1. Becoming a mentor
   

   Why and how?
   

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2. Florian
   Mierzejewski
   Senior Android Engineer
   
   
   @Trade Republic
   
   
   -
   
   
   Berlin, Germany
   
   2
   

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3. 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
   

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4. 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
   

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5. Why mentoring?
   
   5
   

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6. 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
   

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7. Where do I start?
   
   7
   

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8. 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
   

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9. 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
   

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10. 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
    

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11. Keep it going
    
    11
    

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12. 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
    

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13. Areas of growth
    •Solving skills
    
    
    •Soft skills
    
    
    •Organisational skills
    
    
    •Presenting skills
    
    13
    

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14. 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
    

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15. Soft skills
    •Bringing someone up to
    speed in a timely manner
    
    
    •Participating e
    ff i
    ciently to
    meetings
    
    
    •Avoiding following blindly
    
    15
    

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16. Organisational skills
    • Timeboxing
    
    
    • Using tools more e
    ff
    ectively
    
    
    • Healthy working habits
    
    16
    

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17. Presenting skills
    •Writing a good PR
    description
    
    
    •Self-review
    
    
    •How small is too small and
    how big is too big
    
    
    •Commenting etiquette
    
    17
    

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18. 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
    

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19. Zusammenfassung
    
    19
    

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20. 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
    

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21. We’re hiring!
    

    https://traderepublic.com/careers
    
    21
    

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22. Questions?
    
    22
    @
    fl
    orianmski
    

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