This new monthly series is dedicated to helping mentors and mentees connect with one another. Many of you have requested a space like this from DEV and we've decided that a regular monthly discussion thread would offer a great option for interested folks.
The DEV Community is made up of a wide variety of developers who are at different points in their careers with separate skill sets and specialties. We're constantly sharing our experiences and learning together in public, so it feels natural to open up a space for mentors and potential mentees to meet & mingle, discuss what they're offering or hoping to get from mentorship, and plan their next steps.
Here's How It Works
Below, we'll offer some guidance for how to approach this thread from both a mentor and a mentee's perspective.
Guidance for Mentors 🍎
If you're a mentor and plan on using this thread to talk about your experience and what you can provide mentorship-wise, you've come to the right place. Also, thank you... we appreciate you offering to help others in our community!
NOTE: If you're offering a paid-for service, we ask that you please be upfront about that in your message.
We recommend sharing a message about yourself that includes the following:
- Your experience as a developer and as a mentor. If it's your first time offering mentorship, that's okay; please just be honest.
- What you're able to offer. For example: share your preferred method of communication and how much estimated time you can provide on a daily/weekly/monthly basis.
- Why you're doing this. Perhaps you remember being a beginner and would like to help someone out. Maybe you run a supportive Discord channel. Or, maybe it's part of your career in DevRel.
- How folks can connect with you. You could provide contact details, point to your website, link to your socials/Discord channel/etc. — just give folks a way to get in touch.
Guidance for Mentees ✨
Thanks for coming here to find a mentor and/or to put yourself out there as a potential mentee. We hope that this thread helps to connect you with somebody or group of folks in the DEV Community who can offer you guidance and assistance via mentorship.
NOTE: We do not endorse every person who lists themselves as a mentor in this thread. Remember, this is an open thread, so please be cautious about sharing your personal details. If you see someone whose behavior or services seem suspicious, please don't hesitate to report them to us.
We recommend responding to a mentor who has let a message below and/or sharing a message about yourself that includes the following:
- Your current experience level as a developer. If you're just beginning and/or in early learning stages, that's absolutely okay!
- What your personal goals are. These can be long-term and aspirational, e.g. I want to become a professional web developer. They can also be more short-term and specific, e.g. I want to learn best practices for naming models in Ruby.
- What your personal commitment looks like. Can you meet up multiple times a week, once a week, once a month? Are you full-time job searching or currently working somewhere else? How much time do you expect to spend on this?
- How folks can connect with you. You could let a mentor know that you plan on contacting them. And/or you could provide contact details, point to your website, socials, etc.
Match on 🤝
Alright, now that y'all know how this works, feel free to drop your details below and let folks get to know you!
Top comments (30)
Hello everyone! At Michael's suggestion, I'm sharing here my guide on mentoring:
Career treasure hunt: A comprehensive guide to mentoring from both sides
Veronika Kabatova ・ Jan 18
Maybe it will help some of you get started on your mentor or mentee journeys. I cannot promise to be available as a mentor right now, but I'll be happy to answer any of your questions about mentoring on that post 💞
You rock! Thanks so much for dropping this in here. 🙌
Thanks so much for this opportunity, @michaeltharrington! I'd love to find a mentor.
I'm an older dude, changing careers, currently seeking an entry-level position as an iOS developer. I've been a full-time musician and an algebra instructor, and this pivot toward programming brings me back to a passion that started in my early teens.
I recently graduated from Udacity's nanodegree program in iOS Development. For my ambitious final project, I made a calendar app for my mom, who has temporal lobe epilepsy. I'm still tweaking the app based on her feedback, and I'd love to get it up on the Apple app store where it might do some good for others as well.
I'm hoping to land a job as soon as possible - by this summer if I can. I haven't applied anywhere yet. I'm working on my resume, LinkedIn, and portfolio, and would love feedback on all that. I may want to find an open source project to contribute to (I have a lead on a volunteer project already, so I'll have to see how much time that leaves me), and I'd love to get in some pair coding and interview practice.
Job-seeking is my full-time-ish job right now, while I'm taking on a few side projects to bring in some income. It's hard to know how much time those will take up, but the iOS career path is my main focus. I would love to meet up as often as possible, and will appreciate whatever amount of time a mentor has to give.
You can find me on LinkedIn or email me: monty at montyharper dot com.
You're very welcome, Monty. I really hope ya find a good mentor through this resource. Wishing ya the best! 😀
Hi everyone.
Anmol here ^^
I'm a full-stack developer from India, super into Open Source, and guiding lots of people on Open Source.
You can check my socials to learn more about me:
GitHub • LinkedIn • DEV • Twitter • Discord
I've been a mentor in GSSoC'23 before, and if you want to learn about Open Source, just reach out. I'm not an expert, but I've learned everything by doing, not from any course. That is why, I believe I know things in depth.
From a developer perspective (2yrs), I'm still not very experienced to guide someone.
I can't help you all the time, but I'm here whenever you need it. It could be daily or weekly, depending on what works for you :)
The whole reason why I'm doing this is because I really love talking to people and be a part of their journey.
I prefer using Discord for communication. I do reply on other platforms, but Discord feels casual and easy.
I hope this helps.
Hi Anmol!
I’m a self-taught programmer and I work as a backend developer!
I’m currently developing a simple app with NestJs and Nextjs! In all honesty I’m struggling with FE as I don’t have it in my skills belt!
I saw on your GitHub profile you work with Nextjs and I would appreciate some help or support from time to time!
Hope we can stay in touch!
Many thanks,
Fabiana
Sure, send me a friend request on Discord, LinkedIn, or Twitter.
Let's learn and grow together :)
Hi everyone! I'm Grace and I've been a QA Engineer for 4.5 years but also had Full Stack Development Experience for 2 years. I've been a mentor since September 2023 for a mentorship platform called ADPList and a non-profit project called Menternshift (previously known as the 40-commits challenge).
I wanted to share my knowledge and passion for QA with others since I've noticed that there seems to be an under-appreciation of the QA industry as a whole.
Where you can find me:
GitHub | ADPList | LinkedIn | DEV
What I can offer:
Resume Review; LinkedIn profile review; Guide on how to get started as a QA Engineer; Discussing current industry practices; Guide on how to write Test Plans, test Strategies, and test cases
I would prefer you reach out to me via ADPList to get started since it's already an established platform for mentorship. Feel free to reach out to me and send me a message!
So excited
I am noob just started to learn html and css i am looking for mentors to complete my this journey. Heyy @anmolbaranwal i am impressed with your profile Hope we can stay in touch!
Thank you
Sure, send me a friend request on Discord, LinkedIn, or Twitter.
Let's learn and grow together :)
Actually I was looking for such an opportunity and thanks to @michaeltharrington
for such an initiative.
Hi, I am Asif, I am in mid 30s and have experience over 10 years working as an IT expert in banking and finance domain. At the early stage of my career, I used to do development in .net technology stacks. But as the time goes on I move into more managerial roles where managing different stack holders along with managing vendors application become my primary responsibility. I also used to do sql scripting to prepare different MIS reports as per the requirement. My technological growth in all those years was downward and I was not satisfied with my position.
So I finally take a firm decision, get out of my job and enrolled in Master program with a notion that it will give a direction to restart once again. I am currently planning to move into the cloud domain and started taking prep for certifications. As I also miss coding, I want to get accustomed with current treads happening in the industry. It will be great help if I get some one who can help or guide me through this journey. I would love to meet up and will appreciate whatever amount of time a mentor has to give.
You can find me in Linekedin or email me asif dot ndc at gmail dot com
Woot woot! You're very welcome, Asif. Sorry I missed your message before.
Sounds like you've got some good early experience! I hope you find somebody who fits well to pair with in this thread!
Yay! So excited for this.
On the note of the title for this post, I gotta give @montyharper a shoutout for giving me the name "Mentor Matching" with this comment. Much appreciated! 🙌
Glad to be of service, and thanks so much for this - I'm super excited to possibly find a mentor!
Hi everyone! 👋
My name is Dasha, and I am an iOS Developer with over three years of experience.
I had an opportunity to work both in large corporations and startups. Now, I am a senior developer in Surf and a lead of the DevRel department.
LinkedIn Github Articles
Meander 👈 Here we can schedule sessions.
I like to help others with their issues and to see progress. I also see an opportunity for myself in professional development through mentoring.
I mostly help beginners with some technical/architecture topics and pet projects. Free.
@montyharper hi! Maybe you are interested
Hi Daria, yes, of course! Maybe we can get together for an online chat?
Hi! I’m Roxy. I’ve been teaching myself to code for a year via 100devs, freeCodeCamp, and Scrimba. I’m a mom of three littles, one being medically complex. I have a background in math education and am currently a librarian. I’m looking to career switch into web development this year! I’m still in beginner mode (html, css, JS) and am deciding what to learn next. My resume is in decent shape but I need a good kick in the butt to finish my portfolio. I’m just so shy about sharing any of it and how long it’s all taken, it would be lovely to find a similar person/group to share with and learn from. My tech twitter is @roxlearnscode. ❤️ I appreciate this thread, thank you!
Hey Roxy, nice to meet you! I think I could give a few tips, seeing as I've walked down that path myself (almost 6 years ago now) and could give you a few pointers as well as that push you need. I'm focused on backend now (Node.js + TS), but general code and engineering tips are language agnostic.
Due to my schedule, I would maybe be able to have proper 1:1s a couple times a month at most, but would be perfectly fine with async chatting!
Let me know if it sounds ok to you and I'll be sure to get in contact :)
Hi everyone!
I am an avid programmer, and have about 35+ years of building products behind me. My "professional" experience is a little less stellar with about 26 years.
I have been mentoring colleagues for over 20 years now. And have been providing in-person mentoring and career guidance to undergrad students ever since the start of covid, in 2020.
I am a compulsive hands-on learner, and have a passion for Java, which I started using when it was just released, 1.0 days. But I am a tech junkie. Anything and everything interests me. And I try to use it in everyday coding too. Docker, Dev Containers, Javascript, Typescript. I also had a tryst with Rust earlier this year, but fell back to Java, my true love. Possible I may go back there.
Where you can find me:
LinkedIn | Blog
What I can offer:
I mentor, mostly for free, unless the ask is for a lot of commitment and time.
I am available for professional freelance engagements, and retainer time for mentoring too.
@mandraketech, I went through your LinkedIn and it's really impressive !!
I'm an experienced Java developer aspiring to be a team leader in very few years, but I need a push in the right direction.
I just left you a message on your LinkedIn (I'm José Ramón).
Thank you very much !!
Hello, I have been a programmer for over 10 years. I am Spaniard and I live in Spain. Although I am not bilingual, my English level is advanced. I worked in England as an embedded programmer for two years.
I started with C programming, scripting languages and Linux admin back in 2010. Since 2018 I am focused on Java technologies and Angular for the front-end. Passionate about clean code and functional programming, based on my mid-level knowledge of Scala and Kotlin.
I am a compulsive learner of anything related to Software Engineering: programming languages, design patterns, CI/CD tools or software architecture.
My goal in 2024 is to have a written guide for all the Java projects where I can decide about the technologies, design patterns, required libraries (Guava is compulsory for me), architecture and other aspects of the project.
I'm interested in being both a mentor and a mentee.
You can reach me on my mentoring-club profile
Thanks for this initiative, @michaeltharrington !!
Hey,
I have developed a few products but all have failed in the past! Want to collaborate or get some mentorship regarding how to approach this.
@michaeltharrington thanks for doing this.
Hi! I’m Stefan looking for an AWS mentor. Looking to change careers as I approach midlife crisis. Possess AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner and Solutions Architect – Associate. Looking for an entry-level opportunity with the AWS cloud.
Looking to be gainfully employed by the start of Fall 2024. Not really looking as I am becoming career ready. I’m currently working on an AWS project to place in my portfolio.
My goal is to have an understanding of the AWS Cloud. I believe that once I understand this, the rest should fall into place.
Best way to contact me is via email stefan.aws @ outlook . com
Good luck everyone!