Emixa Mendix Meetup 11 April 2024 about Mendix Native development
NEOISF - On Mentoring Future Techies
1. We make a living by what we get, but
we make a life by what we give.
- Winston Churchill
2. BRINGING UP
OUR FUTURE
ON MENTORING FUTURE TECHIES
SARAH “SADUKIE” DUTKIEWICZ
CLEVELAND TECH CONSULTING
3. What is a mentor?
• Experienced and trusted
adviser
• Someone who can offer
guidance and advice in
achieving a goal in life
4. A mentor is someone who sees more talent and ability within
you, than you see in yourself, and helps bring it out of you.
- Bob Proctor
5. On Future Techies
• Early part of my career, mentored 10-15 junior developers
• At the Software Guild, over 200 junior devs mentored August 2014 –
December 2017
• All walks of life
• Young and right out of high school
• Older and pursuing a second or third career
• No prior technical experience
• Senior developers who know older technologies and want to learn newer
ones
• Currently, mentoring in the tech community
6. When you really want something,
all the universe conspires in
helping you achieve it.
- Paulo Coelho,
“The Alchemist”
21. Demystify Questions
• What do they mean when they
say authorization vs
authentication?
• What is a red team? A blue
team? A black hat? A white
hat?
• Why do people ask about how
many piano tuners are in an
area?
• Where do you see yourself in 5
years?
41. Search for role models you can look up to and
people who take an interest in your career. But
here's an important warning: you don't have to
have mentors who look like you. Had I been
waiting for a black, female Soviet specialist mentor,
I would still be waiting. Most of my mentors have
been old white men, because they were the ones
who dominated my field.
- Condoleeza Rice
42. Finding mentors
• Within a company
• Boss
• More experienced colleague on a project
• Formal mentoring program
• Outside a company
• Networking via community engagements
• Conferences
• User Groups
• MentorNet
• Mentoring.org
• Locally!
• Cleveland Tech Slack - #mentoring channel
cleveland-tech
.slack.com
45. Twenty years from now you will be more
disappointed by the things you didn’t do than
by the ones you did do. So throw off the
bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor.
Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore.
Dream. Discover.
Editor's Notes
While it is one thing to learn from videos or blog posts, it is a different experience when you have someone to turn to that can answer the questions you have when you have them. It makes a world of difference to be able to ask someone “What do they mean when they say ‘inheritance vs. interfaces’?” When you have someone who forces you to think about what it is you want in life and what steps you may need to take to get there… someone who can make introductions and offer direction… it makes your career and life a little less scary and a lot more manageable. In this session, we will look at some practices that are used by great mentors in the field and learn lessons on how we can be great role models and mentors for our future – junior developers!
Additional Reading:
* What is a Mentor and Roles of the Mentor and Mentee: http://www.oycp.com/mentortraining/3/m3.html
Image and notes from http://www.historyandwomen.com/2012/09/augusta-ada-byron-countess-of-lovelace.html
Image taken from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/intvgene/370973576/sizes/z/in/photostream/
* My story – one mentor who was my voice from outside the company and who saw a lot of potential in me. He also encouraged me to grow in my tech career. Another mentor helps me focus on the business side, asking me the tough questions that I don’t like getting asked but still think about – “What is the direction you want to go? Why? Where do you see yourself in {x amount of time}?”
Agile Summer Camp, 2008
----
The story of trusting and respecting apprentices
Picture: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scale_of_justice_2.svg
Story: ORMs and anti-ORMs
Go unbiased
Don’t let personal opinions sway protégés – such as anti-programming language or framework due to personal preference
Image taken from:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/29224712@N08/4436827429/
Fresh set of eyes
Story: Rich Woodland, take intern’s curiosity and ran with it; reunion
Playing to strengths and strengthening where they are weak – even if it means recommending another mentor
Picture: http://www.jobcluster.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Strengths-and-Weaknesses.jpg
Nourish the stomach and the soul.
A lot of important conversations can be had while out of the office and over a meal.
Picture of White Spy from Spy vs Spy, Mad Magazine;
Don't expect to remember things right away - and don't be afraid to ask for help if you do forget things. Google is your friend, as can be Stack Overflow. Teammates are good for that too, if you want the human interaction..
Picture: https://wasabiway.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/questions-to-ask-yourself.png
Picture: https://www.flickr.com/photos/strangeloop2013/9850506636/sizes/l
Story of being encouraged to present and how it led here
The "fake it until you make it" mantra, sadly, works in the beginning. The more you do something, the more you will realize that you've got it, and the more your confidence will come in and the impostor syndrome will fade away (until the next episode)..
. And by the beginning, I mean the beginning of whatever project or technology or tool you're exploring. It'll keep coming in bouts, but the more you're in the field, the less it will appear..
Some let the impostor part really slow them down and get self-conscious about it. I used to be like that. But then I had a mentor who really helped me find my voice and my self-confidence, which has helped a ton..
Image borrowed from: https://recoverynetworktoronto.wordpress.com/2013/05/30/i-will-not-obey-the-voices-in-my-head-bart-simpson/
And if you're like many of my apprentices - past and present - don't let a blank application stare you down and scare you. Don't let that blank screen intimidate you. It's natural to have that fear of not knowing where to start. We go back to past applications or other people's code to help inspire us and steer us in the right direction to get past that.
Additional Reading:
All about Mentoring Programs: http://worldeducationsystems.com/adult-education/all-about-mentoring-programs/
Background image: http://blog.yorksj.ac.uk/moodle/files/2014/10/feedback.jpg
Microsoft’s mission – and one that we as mentors can learn from and strive for.
This was taken at the Microsoft Visitor Center, Redmond, WA on November 2, 2015.
More on this quote: http://quoteinvestigator.com/2011/09/29/you-did/