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Actionable Tactics
For Leveling Up
Junior Devs
Sumeet Jain
@sumeetjain
Development Director
Unabridged Software
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Everyone says they
value mentorship,
yet new devs still suffer.
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Mentorship skills
are actively learned.
They are not intuitive.
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Questioning
format
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No private
messages!
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Expose maximum
knowledge and
pain points.
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Stupid questions
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“There is
such thing as a
stupid question.”
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“There is no
such thing as a
stupid question.”
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IRC
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1. Business knowledge
2. Tooling
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Remove or
document prolific
abstractions.
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- Dependencies
- Abstractions
- Patterns
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Domain-level
documentation
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Make the macro
intent of small
classes explicit.
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Screencasts as
documentation
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Organize them
later.
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Watch other
devs work
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Pairing is great,
but sometimes
watching is better.
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Don’t forget about:
- Retention
- Promotion
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Affirm the hire.
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Support
time-wasting.
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Better use of
investment time
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Prioritize depth
over breadth.
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Are your “learning
lunches” adding
depth?
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Occasionally,
allocate full days.
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Long-form
technical writing
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Solidifies their
knowledge
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Creates
documentation
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Builds their (and
your) authority
and brand
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Let devs “audit”
extra meetings
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Show devs the work
they would do after
their next promotion.
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Above all else,
listen to your devs.
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sumeetjain.com/tactics
@sumeetjain