SE mentoring fundamentals

When one conjures up images of mentoring, they’re often of a wise, bearded oracle late in his years imparting his lifelong wisdom to a youngster about to go off and start his adult life. While that might have been a scene from an old 1960s movie, it is not exactly how it works in the real world today. If you are a senior SE, you have an opportunity to make an honest and positive difference in a junior SE’s career and life.

Please stop and think about this for a second. Hopefully, at the end of your career, you will reflect and have good memories about your technical competencies, how you helped solve real business problems for your customers, as well as a few fun stories about sales kick-off (SKO). However, for those who decide to put effort into helping a junior SE grow during their tenure as a senior member of their team, well… they leave a real legacy, and that honestly matters.

Today’s effective mentors have a wide array...