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Growing together: reflections on mentoring a junior developer

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by: Jona Derksen

Mentorship is an essential aspect of the professional growth of any individual, especially in the tech industry. For a junior developer, having a mentor can be the difference between struggling to get by and thriving in their career. As a mentor, you have the power to guide and inspire a junior developer, sharing your knowledge and expertise, and helping them grow both professionally and personally.
I will reflect on the experience of mentoring a junior developer. Exploring the challenges and rewards of mentoring, discuss the qualities of an effective mentor, and provide practical tips for building a successful mentoring relationship. Whether you are a seasoned developer looking to give back to the community or a junior developer seeking guidance, this article is for you.
When I began mentoring there was no internal established program for mentoring a developers. I saw an opportunity to create something meaningful and valuable for our team. I had to gather information on best practices and design a program that would be effective for our unique team dynamic. It was a challenging but rewarding experience that taught me a lot about the importance of mentoring and coaching in the workplace.

Establishing a mentoring program

When starting a mentoring program, it’s essential to create a plan that is tailored to the needs of your team dynamic. One important lesson I learned is that you should be flexible with your plan and be able to deviate from it depending on the pace at which your mentee progresses. My plan consisted of three main goals: onboarding, familiarising the mentee with the team’s way of working and tech stack, and taking ownership of a feature development. For each goal, I set specific approaches and estimated timeframes based on the level of the mentee.
In the onboarding phase, I used the internal onboarding documentation and took extra time to go over the code and the reasoning behind certain processes. For the second goal, I had the mentee work on small task and focused on how the team works and codes. We also reviewed the PR process and deployment to help build confidence and knowledge. Finally, for the third goal, I selected a feature for the mentee to be involved in leading the feature development, getting them close to the business and giving them ownership.
Creating a custom mentoring plan allowed me to provide valuable guidance and support to my mentee while also learning from them. It’s essential to be open to feedback and adjust the plan accordingly to ensure that it remains effective in helping your mentee achieve their goals.

Digital vs. In-Person Mentorship Dynamics

The way you interact with your mentee will vary depending on whether you are working in the office, from home, or a combination of both. It’s important to adjust your approach accordingly. Initially, you’ll need to have more frequent interactions with your mentee to establish a good working relationship, and then adjust the frequency as needed.
When working digitally, it’s important to book time for questions and interactions with you mentee. You should make it easy for your mentee to reach you by jump in and out of (video) calls, having tools to draw like a digital white board and look at code together with for instance ‘code with me’ or other alternatives.
On the other hand, when working in the office, it’s best to sit next to your mentee and use physical white boards to explain concepts. By adapting to the situation, you can ensure that your mentee has the best learning experience possible.

Onboarding

The onboarding phase is a crucial part of any new developer. In this phase, the mentor should take the time to introduce the mentee to the company’s internal onboarding documentation and explain the domain logic.
The mentor should encourage the mentee to update onboarding documentation to ensure the documentation is kept up to date and provided confidence for the mentee to give feedback on the process.
When explaining the domain logic it is useful to do this together on a whiteboard. This way you get input on the current domain knowledge you’re mentee has and can add to the picture where knowledge is missing. During these sessions the mentee also has the possibility to pick up the language used.
This not only helps the mentee get familiar with the company’s way of working and the team’s tech stack but also builds a foundation for future collaboration. It’s important to approach the onboarding phase with care and attention to detail, as it sets the stage for a successful mentoring relationship.

Introducing the Team’s Coding Process

To ensure a smooth transition to the team, the mentor should prepare a small task related to the domain that the mentee can work on independently. The task should add value to the team, be low risk and have no demanding deadline to reduce pressure on the mentee. It can be useful to specifically tell the mentee after which amount of time they should ask for help if they are unable to solve it themself. These unwritten rules are good to tell and share.
After completing the task, the mentor and mentee should review it together following the review process and gets feedback on their work. This provides the mentor with an opportunity to assess the mentee’s progress and adjust their expectations and collaboration approach accordingly. The mentor should also explain and guide the mentee on the deployments to different environments. After this the mentor should provided shadow support for deployment to build confidence and knowledge.
Sharing the mentee’s progress with the team will make them feel like a part of the team and help them come closer to the team. Encourage the mentee to ask questions to team members as well, since you will never always be their to answer his questions.
After finishing a couple of tasks, the mentor and mentee should discuss the next goal. Depending on the mentee’s progress set expectations and approaches for the next goal. By doing so the mentee gets to experience multiple sides of the domain and learn in a way he finds interesting.

Guided Independence

The mentee will expand their focus and take partial ownership of a feature development with the guidance of a mentor or another lead engineer. Together with the mentee you select a feature they will lead with another engineer. During this phase a more proactive approach is expected from them.
The mentor will guide them towards the people who can provide the information required for the feature development. They will share documentation about the domain and can ask the mentee to explain it back to ensure their understanding of the domain. The mentor or lead will support with creating tasks for the new feature. They will encourage the mentee to explain some of these tasks to the team during for example refinement. The mentee will be made aware to keep an eye on joining meetings related to the feature development. If they are not invited, they should speak up.
The objective of this goal is to conclude the feature development with a discussion about the challenges encountered during the process. This conversation can provide valuable insights into the areas where the mentee may still be struggling and where the mentor should focus on providing support.

During my collaboration with my mentee, I gained two important insights that I believe are worth sharing.

Setting and Achieving Realistic Goals

When starting a mentoring relationship, it is important to talk about the goals you have in mind to ensure progress is made in the right direction. These goals can range from broad to specific, or may not exist at all. However, as time passes, it becomes important to focus on one goal at a time. Juggling multiple goals can be difficult, especially in the initial learning phase.
As a mentor, it is important to guide the mentee in setting realistic goals that are challenging, but not limiting. It is good to remember that goals should be flexible and adaptable to the mentee’s progress and changing circumstances. While shifting goals may be necessary, finishing some of the goals gives a great sense of accomplishment. Celebrating these achievements along the way and providing constructive feedback on areas that require improvement can motivates the mentee to continue learning and growing. Additionally, encouraging the mentee to reflect on their progress and identify areas where they have grown can help build confidence and self-awareness.

Stepping aside

Stepping aside is an important part of the mentoring process. As a mentor, your goal is to help the mentee grow and develop their skills. Sometimes this means stepping back and allowing the mentee to take more ownership of their work or to work independently.
It can mean moving away to another team and leaving the team with your mentee or encouraging the mentee to work with a different team. This can be difficult, especially if you have developed a close working relationship with the mentee. However, it is important to remember that the mentee’s growth and development is the ultimate goal of the mentoring relationship.
By stepping aside and allowing the mentee to take the lead, you are helping them build confidence, independence, and self-reliance. It is important to communicate clearly with the mentee throughout this process, offering support and guidance when needed while still allowing them to take the reins. Ultimately, by stepping aside, you are empowering the mentee to grow and reach their full potential.