Art of mentoring

The first meeting is especially important. We should plan for about one hour with all members to have a deep, open discussion

As we become experienced professionals in software field, it is expected that we need to mentor junior members on various aspects of software development. I had opportunity to mentor many young talents. I will discuss some of the approaches adopted so far.

Limit the number of mentees

It is best to select a maximum of 8 mentees for the mentorship program.
If you take on more than that, it becomes difficult to track everyone’s progress effectively. In my opinion, fewer mentees are better, as it allows for more focused attention. The first meeting is especially important. We should plan for about one hour with all members to have a deep, open discussion. This session will help break the ice and allow everyone to get to know each other better.

Keep in mind that most college graduates tend to be shy, and they may not open right away. It’s important to take the time to talk with them and help them feel comfortable.

Schedule weekly/bi-weekly check-ins

After the initial group meeting, schedule a 1-on-1 session with each mentee for about 30 minutes. This helps set clear expectations and define their learning goals. The learning goals should be aligned with the organization’s objectives and clearly explained to the mentee. I usually prepare a 1–2-page document outlining:

· The learning objectives

· A high-level plan to achieve them

· This ensures that both the mentor and mentee are committed to the outcome.

Once the objectives are set, plan weekly or bi-weekly check-ins to track progress and help resolve any challenges. In my opinion, bi-weekly meetings work best since most experienced staff are busy with their project commitments.

Focus on core engineering skills

Although many young graduates are familiar with internet, cloud, and AI technologies, they often lack strong fundamentals.
It’s important to focus on building these core skills first:

• Logical reasoning and problem-solving techniques

• Object-Oriented Analysis and Design (OOA/D)

• Requirement analysis and design fundamentals

• Code structuring and best practices

• GitHub and release management basics

• Unit testing and debugging skills

• Database essentials

• Documentation practices

These fundamentals help graduates become better software engineers who can support production systems and contribute effectively to both new (greenfield) and existing (legacy) projects. Without these core skills, they may struggle with complex engineering challenges and avoid difficult technical problems instead of solving them.

Involve them in team-based workshops

Once initial learnings found to be satisfactory, group them into small teams and involve them in team-based activities. This would involve analysis, design, estimation of complex solutions, come-up alternatives and team based mini project executions. This would ensure a real-time environment, and they will have an idea about how systems are designed and developed. I followed most of time above steps and it has resulted in resounding success. Now, most of them are successfully delivering complex projects in their career.