How to accelerate the training of junior devs who work as devs Part 1 - THE FEAR

Paulo Otavio Gomes de Abreu Pinto — Mon, 17 Apr 2023 20:05:19 +0000

This is an article of a series I intend to do about my journey as a techlead and mentor in a startup that seeks to train developers inside the clients with high performance and to question the dogmas of the tech area.

Hello, my name is Paulo. I have been working for 9 years as a software engineer and today I am taking on the new challenge of being a guide for future programmers.

Before talking about what works and what does not work in the formation of a junior developer, the first point that I mapped out and want to share with you is not technical but has to do with the emotional.

The beginning and specially the first job as a developer has an extremely heavy load in relation to pressure and doubts.

Will I be able to deliver the task?

Will I be able to do it?

And if I can't, will I be fired?

There are so many questions going through your head that it creates a very bad creative and productive environment.

I have a terrible example to share, but I always laugh when I talk about it.

Imagine that you are a lion, the king (you have a lot of potential).

but your fear turns you into a kitten (fear creates giant barriers).

I know it's really bad, but it makes sense.

The impetus to try, courage, persist and triumph is gone.

Eliminate the fear.

It's okay if you don't have time, if you make a mistake it's part of the process, learn from your mistake ALWAYS.

Here are some tips on how to do this.

Give real tasks and try to remove the deadline/timebox from them so the TIME factor will no longer be a variable in the learner's head
Pair program and break complex problems into smaller problems (for example a dependency injection you can do the first time and show him the whole step by step and let him try in the future to add one more by himself)
Create a safe environment ( Give immediate positive or negative feedbacks it doesn't matter they love to know if they are going in the right way or if they should correct the route)
Let them have their own opinions (always ask for their opinion and create a collaborative environment for decision making and even if they choose a wrong path when possible correct them but with examples, this will make them feel part of the process)

And of course I'm open to anyone who wants to talk about it.

DEV Community: Paulo Otavio Gomes de Abreu Pinto

How to accelerate the training of junior devs who work as devs Part 1 - THE FEAR

Eliminate the fear.

Here are some tips on how to do this.