My Experience with Mentorship
Yes, I had a mentor, and it greatly shaped my career. First, I thought one could learn all by themselves by courses, documentation, and try-and-error methods. Then came having a mentor, which brought insight, accountability, and perspective to a different level that accelerated growth. My mentor wasn't there to answer my questions but to challenge my thoughts toward critical thinking-challenging solutions and encouraging me to experiment.
Was It Worth It?
Of course, you don't necessarily have to have a mentor, but it's pretty hard to replace all the positive things they can bring. If you are getting into tech or thinking of getting a mentor, I highly recommend it. It is an investment for your growth, and it opens doors to insights that you wouldn't have found otherwise.
Ever have a mentor? Discuss! What role did they play in your career, or if you never had one, do you feel it would've made a difference?
Top comments (27)
Yes, my mentor is actually my husband ❤︎ and he’s been a huge part of my learning process. He introduced me to web development 12 years ago and has been by my side throughout the journey. He guided me with insights and shortcuts that saved me time. By sharing what he learned, he helped me avoid the same struggles he had, making my progress faster and more focused.
I’ve grown in my own direction beyond what I first learned from him, but his motto of "sharing is caring" has stayed with me to live by. At one point I was also mentoring others and it’s amazing to see people make progress, get jobs, and become successful. Knowing you’ve helped someone is so rewarding and motivating.
In summary: If you get a chance to have a mentor, go for it! Not everyone will be a perfect fit, but it can really speed up your progress. Figuring things out on your own is great, practice makes perfect, but good advice and tips along the way are always helpful and welcome.
thank you!
That's amazing! Thanks for sharing
I have always found mentors to be extremely valuable.
I'm lucky that my bosses (at the time when I was younger in my career) really took me under their wing, gave me valuable advice about life and work and all the things...and we've been able to keep in touch over the years and reconnect easily.
I try to play the same role for my employees as the team lead and I feel it fosters a great sense of team, but also that degree of personal care that is meaningful for the person vs as a team leader delegating tasks and such.
Those kind of bosses are rare but really valuable
That’s fantastic! It’s great that you’re paying it forward with your team. Thanks for sharing
I personally never had a mentor myself, but I love to read about different people learn. There are so many ways to learn! Some people learn on their own, others prefer bootcamps, others rely on mentors. etc. I do have a little experience being a mentor to a coworker years ago.
That's the key! A good mentor should not give you the answer, they should guide you so you can arrive to the right answer by yourself.
Exactly! A true mentor guides you to find the answer yourself, not just gives it to you.
Should be work on a project where people can find mentors? Like a platform to connect people willing to learn and people willing to be their mentor? If interested ping me! We can work together on this!
You can find my email in my bio. Feel free to email me!
Not formally and without the label.
I can pin point two or three people in my career that were like "mentors."
At past jobs, I had the chance of working next to my team architects and learned a lot from them. And at another job, one day I decided to reach out to my boss' boss with genuine questions, he was open and kind to answer them. From that point, we started to have 1-1s outside the normal ceremonies.
So if you're looking for a mentor, don't ask anyone to "be your mentor." That would imply commitment for one side. Instead go with genuine questions, show interest in the other person, help him somehow, and show you're taking action on the advice/input you're given.
Great approach! Thanks for sharing
I had a mentor at my previous job, he learned me the basics. When he left, I had the feeling that I did not learn new concepts as much as I did before. I was good and I could develop entire features by my own, but I knew that I could learn so much more.
So I left for another company and I am still there. I work with skilled developers, I learned new stuff thanks to them, like TDD, DDD, SOLID principles and hexagonal architecture, all the cool stuff ^^
In my opinion, working with other developers is decisive for your career. Your colleagues solve problems from another angle, with their own knowledges.
Outside of your job, a great way to learn new things is to work together on a side project with a certain complexity.
Side projects are also fantastic for learning new concepts and tackling challenges in a collaborative way. Thanks for sharing!
Hi, how you found a mentor and how you choose a right mentor?
Hi! I was lucky to meet my mentor at the college I graduated. So it was pretty simple for me as I didn't have to search for him, our paths just crossed
I'm so glad I followed you a year ago. So many useful articles and thoughts. You're very helpful. You have undeservedly few views
Thank you!
Yes I got some mentor especially during my newbie days, where they teach me and challenge me that will help me to boost not only skill but emotionally and gave me a lot of important lessons.
Yes. Every mentor I had allowed me to overcome problems that I did not see I had. This is very important because those problems are hardest so solve by yourself.
Absolutely, that’s one of the biggest values a mentor can bring. Thanks for sharing
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