This is my personal experience, so, please, don't take it as an ultimate truth.
Thanks to all people that have spent time in this discussion, I found many points very valuable.
From my small experience in mentoring a junior dev I can safely say that the most important thing(for me) is TRUST. Whenever he/she feels like you're always there, ready to help, great things start to happen.
This is difficult to build as any human relationship, but believe me, it does pay off.
Among other important things (in no particular order):
Don't overmentor. I fell into this trap many times. As a more senior dev, you certainly know how to do things the right way, but don't force it. Give them time to learn and figure out things.
Don't put too much on their plate. New place and people is already an overwhelming experience. I tried to give some small tasks in the beginning, explaining the context and reasons behind some of the technical decisions. It certainly made our process more manageable.
Ask questions. Be genuinely interested. Mentoring is a bidirectional process. My junior dev was amazing. We asked each other questions about the solutions we found. We justified our thought process and shared ideas.
Give freedom. Software development is art (in my opinion). Therefore, embrace their creativity and direct it when necessary.
Thanks for reading, I hope it will be helpful to you.
Hi, Lynne
This is my personal experience, so, please, don't take it as an ultimate truth.
Thanks to all people that have spent time in this discussion, I found many points very valuable.
From my small experience in mentoring a junior dev I can safely say that the most important thing(for me) is TRUST. Whenever he/she feels like you're always there, ready to help, great things start to happen.
This is difficult to build as any human relationship, but believe me, it does pay off.
Among other important things (in no particular order):
Don't overmentor. I fell into this trap many times. As a more senior dev, you certainly know how to do things the right way, but don't force it. Give them time to learn and figure out things.
Don't put too much on their plate. New place and people is already an overwhelming experience. I tried to give some small tasks in the beginning, explaining the context and reasons behind some of the technical decisions. It certainly made our process more manageable.
Ask questions. Be genuinely interested. Mentoring is a bidirectional process. My junior dev was amazing. We asked each other questions about the solutions we found. We justified our thought process and shared ideas.
Give freedom. Software development is art (in my opinion). Therefore, embrace their creativity and direct it when necessary.
Thanks for reading, I hope it will be helpful to you.
Hi Danil, thanks for the advice. I think the 'Don't overmentor' part is important and also probably the hardest thing to do!