Padawan and Master

Mentoring Developers

Take someone with raw potential…

And turn them into something useful

Your definition of useful may vary

What exactly IS this strange thing?

Mentorship

Formal or Informal

Professional or Personal

Long or Short Term

Group or Peer

Personal Rewards

Why Mentorship?

InformationRole modelingAdviceNetworkingInteraction

Why be mentored?

Technology moves FAST

Information

We all need a hero

Role Modeling

No man(or woman.. or little green thing) is an island.

Advice

To get to where you need to go, find the folks you need to know

Networking

Humans (well and others) are social animals

Interaction

LearningRecognitionNetworkingReciprocationIntangibles

Why mentor others?

Once I was the student, now I am the master

Learning

What your apprentice does reflects on you

Recognition

You might be surprised at what your apprentice can do for you

Networking

Sometimes you just want to give back what you’ve been given

Reciprocation

We like to do things that make us feel good

Intangibles

How to get in on the good stuff

Successful Mentoring

1.Personality

2.Skills

3.Availability

4.Drive

Find a partner

1. Ongoing process

2. Both sides together, never a one way street

3. Goals will evolve with circumstances

4. Goals should be specific enough to clearly define progress

Decide on goals

1. Interaction is the key to good mentorship

2. Online is never quite as good as face-to-face, but far better then nothing

3. Use the tech tools available

4. No one is ever “too busy”

Communicate

1.Change the goals

2.Change the nature of the relationship

3.Say Goodbye

4.Run away screaming

Exit Strategy

People Change, Relationships too

Remember: It takes two

1.Take responsibility for career goals

2.Listen and share

3.Incorporate feedback given

4.Make time for interaction

5.Have realistic expectations and approach the relationship with honesty

Rules of an Apprentice

1.Trust and Respect

2.Listen

3.Help apprentice define and achieve goals

4.Offer advice, references, resources, CONSTRUCTIVE feedback

5.Give support when apprentice succeeds, and when they fail

Rules of a Mentor

Mismatch in expectations

Mismatch in personality

Breaches of trust

Lack of focus

When things go wrong…

Remember: Failure is good!

Anecdotes stick around

Personal Tales

Beginning Developer

1.Try to find it on your own first

2.Ask questions, lots of questions, but never the SAME questions

3.Don’t be afraid to question “why?” but also be open to the answers – show respect

4.You will be pushed outside your comfort zone

What is expected of a beginning apprentice?

Intermediate Developer

1.Branch out beyond what you think you need to know into new areas

2.Have faith that the support you need will be there when you ask for it

3.Continue to reach out in new directions to new people, but keep your older contacts close as well

4.Remember that failure breeds success

What is expected of an intermediate apprentice?

Advanced Developer

1.Your mentorship relationship is more peer to peer, more give and take

2.Have respect for those who mentor you, but realize they are just people too

3.Sometimes real life gets in the way

4.Never stop learning and growing

5.Give back (time to get your own apprentice)

What is expected of an advanced apprentice?

Advanced Developer

1.Support and encouragement

2.Feedback loops for coding improvements

3.A shoulder to cry on, an ear to listen, and less help with fixing things

4.Help with those steps out of the comfort zone

What does an advanced dev need from a mentor?

Some day that boy is gonna get me killed

Intermediate Developer

1.Stretching of their coding boundaries

2.Networking connections and introductions to others

3.Encouragement to leave the comfort zone

4.Positive role model for moving ahead

What does an Intermediate dev need from a mentor?

Beginning Developer

1.Best Practices

2.Positive Feedback

3.Resources for their own research

4.NO SPOONFEEDING

What does a beginner need from a mentor?

They grow up too soon…

Apprentice to Master

About Me

http://emsmith.net

https://joind.in/6346

auroraeosrose@gmail.com

IRC – freenode – auroraeosrose

#php-gtk #coapp and others

Questions?

http://phpwomen.org More mentorship organizations?

lonestar1

2Your career not just your resume

Resources:http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newCDV_70.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mentor http://www.iop.org/careers/mentoring/benefits/page_38864.html http://www.mentorscout.com/about/mentor-benefits.cfm http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1207/s15327809jls0603_2 http://www.mindflash.com/blog/2011/07/mentoring-2-0-why-gen-y-demands-a-new-approach/