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Fostering a welcoming,
supportive, and
productive environment
for junior developers
Bobbilee Hartman & Dylan Wolff
RubyConf Philippines 2017
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“But wait, why are
there two of you?”
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Becoming a successful
developer isn't a solo
endeavour
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It’s important to be part
of an inclusive,
supportive team
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Who are we?
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Bobbilee Hartman
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• Ruby & Rails developer
• Mentor at Bloc (bloc.io)
• Rails Camp USA organizer
• bobbileehartman.com / @bobbilee19
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My experience
starting out
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Didn’t feel involved
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“She still doesn’t get
this? She still doesn’t
remember this?”
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Now have responsibility,
no longer feel isolated
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Dylan Wolff
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• Junior developer at Icelab
• Location-independent since
January 2016
• dylanwolff.com / @dgwolff
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My experience
starting out
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Most junior hire by
Icelab
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Thrown into the deep
end early
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Open, honest feedback
= better process for
future junior hires
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Why do we need
juniors?
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No content
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Skill vacuum
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People leave the
industry entirely
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The best way to grow a
company is like a
pyramid: from the bottom
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Not being open to
hiring juniors…
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Narrows the talent
funnel considerably
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Hampers diversity
efforts
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Short term gain but
potentially longer term
pain
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You forego the opportunity
to “mold” a junior to the
company’s perspective
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Without the right
environment,
juniors will…
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Become quiet and isolate
themselves (watch for
this, it's the first sign!)
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Get discouraged,
frustrated, anxious
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Feel imposter syndrome
trickle in
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Be less productive
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Our goals for this
talk
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Help you retain and
grow junior developers
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Make investing in junior
developers more
rewarding and less scary!
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Our approach
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Interview people on both sides:
junior developers and those
who hire and mentor them
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What we found out
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Culture
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The whole team needs
to be on board
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Making mistakes is OK
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Seniors are proactive
about checking in
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Have seniors chat about
their struggles!
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“I just solved a really cool
problem, want to pair with
me, I’ll show you what I did?”
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Share other interests -
not just all work, all the
time
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Open and honest
communication
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Responsibility
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Ownership of a discrete
feature
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Leading standup/
meetings
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Representing the
company at meetups
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Support
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Pairing
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Don’t let them isolate
themselves
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Training budget!
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Learning Lab
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Keep them focused on
their own growth
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Feedback
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Regular, scheduled one-
on-ones
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Code reviews
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Encourage juniors to
"timebox" any problems
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How difficult is this
question (1-10)?
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To sum up
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Cultivating the right
culture
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Empowering juniors
with responsibility
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Providing ongoing
support
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Keeping the lines of
communication open with
regular feedback
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Thanks! ✌