FN-FORUM: Mentoring (was: Programmers)

date posted 15th May 2007 00:10

Peter wrote:
> To go straight into contracting or freelancing with little or no
> experience or real commercial exposure must be very difficult, and=20
> perhaps it is our duty to mentor those with these limited experiences, =

> helping to raise standards in return.=20

Mentoring is a great win-win arrangement. The mentor gains free/low-cost
assistance with work (depending on the trainee's experience and amount =
of
active training/support given), whilst the trainee benefits from new =
skills,
experience, work for their portfolio and industry advice/contacts.

We took on a part-time trainee early last year, whom I've trained in =
HTML,
CSS and basic JavaScript on a moderately paid contract basis. Luckily in =
web
development there is a nice fairly linear learning curve one can follow
(e.g., HTML > CSS > JavaScript/DOM > OO JavaScript > basic server-side
coding > DB interaction > AJAX/n-tier architecture).=20

The arrangement depends on commitment from the trainee and mentor alike. =
The
trainee must be prepared to put in a concentrated effort to absorb =
skills
(keeping notes and practicing skills in own time) and making the most of =
the
wealth of online training materials as directed by the mentor.=20

The mentor in turn needs to support the trainee's professional =
development,
supervising their training, providing suitable real-world projects to =
work
on, providing feedback to their work (and often corrections!). The =
mentor
should also have the decency to either increase the trainee's =
payment/reward
as their skills improve, or assist the trainee in pursuing future =
endeavours
rather than clinging to them as cheap labour!

It is important to realise, however, that the mentor *cannot* be =
expected to
provide full personal training, particularly if a basic wage is being
provided. If the trainee needs hand-holding in order to develop, I'd =
suggest
full-time employment would be more suitable, or a paid training course.=20

If mentors had to spend as much time training as is saved in project
assistance, the arrangement would be unfairly skewed. The idea is mutual
benefit, not charity, for both sides!

As usual, it would be useful to hear Mike A's input on the subject; I
understand he has a number of trainees on-board at UK Web Professionals, =
so
would be interested to hear his experience of what works (and what
doesn't!).

This forum is an ideal means of pairing potential trainees and mentors. =
I'd
suggest members interested in finding a mentor post a summary of their
background, current skills (and example work if possible) and what they =
are
currently doing to improve their skill set. No direct solicitations!

I'm guessing keen, self-motivated and proactive trainees with realistic
expectations will be snapped up by busy individuals here.=20

Ben

--
Ben Johnson, Neogic Web Solutions
// design . development . managed hosting

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