Job interview? Ask about the mentoring program!

Career AdviceApplication

"As a 'developer on the lookout,' you will often be given the opportunity for a job interview. Depending on your experience, you may already have a number of questions that you can always ask the potential employer. However, you may be overlooking an important aspect of your future job - the opportunity for knowledge exchange. It is a benefit that may not be as noticeable as the cool chill-out rooms with hammocks that companies like to boast about, but knowledge is really important for your professional growth. In this article, we would like to encourage you to pay more attention to mentoring and knowledge exchange programs at your future workplaces. We will also share our own recipe for a mentoring program that actually works."

But why even bother sharing knowledge?

Nothing is easier than showing the benefits of knowledge sharing for junior developers. First of all, this is how a programmer grows. Yes, tech websites, blogs and forums help to keep up to date. However, you cannot compete with a true flesh-and-blood mentor who can guide you through the myriad paths of software development. We have seen many junior developers who can't do anything with such classics as "Angular vs. React". A mentor usually comes with a certain bias, but also with substantial arguments that can help in personal path finding.

Working in a software house or startup usually means being tied to one particular tech stack for an extended period of time. This limits your ability to rely on anything but your specific knowledge of that stack for future projects. However, regardless of whether you're a junior or senior developer, taking the time to explore other frameworks and techniques can offer invaluable insights that you can put into practice once your current project is finished. Doing so will give your skillset a much-needed boost.

Mentoring programs are also interesting from the perspective of experienced developers. It is one thing to be an A-class performer. But teaching others is a whole different level. You need to build a clear structure around your own knowledge in order to pass it on. And often you have to deepen your subject matter expertise even further in order to be able to answer the questions of the "student" correctly.

It is clear that software development is a merciless industry. You either stay at the top and learn continually, or you are yesterday's news at some point. Being actively involved in a community that pushes and motivates each other is also of great help. Of course, there are many Dev events where like-minded people gather, and certainly such events also help for personal and professional development. But to have such a supportive community at work as well gives so much more advantages.

Please no half-hearted alibi-mentoring

Most companies, including us, have found that general stagnation leads to "brain drain." To ensure that people are not bored and stay happily employed, we can introduce various things like mentoring sessions or DevTalks. The names are self-explanatory; these are things which actively involve the developers. A healthy mix of the knowledge exchange from 1-on-1 mentoring and the social interaction of larger events provides a very stimulating learning environment.

Challenge of the month

We would like to take a closer look at a particularly exciting format to show the importance of well-cultivated knowledge exchange. How it works:

• There are some mentoring groups lead by senior developers. The people in the group don't normally work together, which adds a team building aspect to the whole thing.
• The group leader and lead developer introduce a challenge of the month together.
• The teams work on their solutions and prepare a short presentation, how they handled the challenge.
• Everyone meets once a month and the teams present their work. The presentations don't necessarily have to be company-internal, you can add external talents if you want.
• The participants can vote for their favourite solution and the winning team will get some kind of reward for their work. Then, a new challenge will be introduced.

Why is something like this not more complicated? The key element here is the element of competition among groups, which promotes teamwork and provides additional motivation for participants to really give it their all. Team members also don't just rely on the group leader, but they also have the opportunity to show their own commitment. In addition, different ideas and solutions can arise from the different groups, and the final presentation then brings new perspectives for everyone.

In the end, the developers practice their rhetorical competence by presenting their solutions during the DevTalks. These skills are often underestimated. Developers are not only barricaded behind their screens in loneliness, but must also know how to deal with questions from the audience, from customers, from team members, etc. Formulating the approaches to solutions precisely and understandable for outsiders deepens one's own understanding of a topic very much. This Challenge of the Month format offers a kind of safe playground where all participants can refine these skills.

Then what?

It can be argued that mentoring in and of itself is not necessarily a guarantee for great self-development. Of course, there are better and worse mentoring programs - another incentive to find out about them! Are you unsure whether the company you are applying to offers the right format for you? To be honest, a company that does anything at all in the direction of knowledge exchange is promising. Ask about the respective rules and what role you could play in such a program.

A company that promotes the growth of its employees is a good company. This cannot be emphasized enough! If your potential employer meets your expectations - great!