Published on February 16, 2024

What can my mentor help me with?

Your mentor can

• Provide technical advice on problems that you’re having that you’re stuck on
• Share their experience so to give you something to compare against your own experience to help guide you in your career or through a technical problem you’re dealing with
• Be available when they have the time to talk to you about issues you’re working through in relation to coding or career.
• Help you work through code related problem that you’re hopelessly stuck on. They most often won’t give you the answer but will rather get you over the immediate hurdle so that you can continue solving the problem yourself.

Is there anything my mentor can’t help me with?

Your mentor cannot be expected

• To do your assignments for university
• To be a replacement for your textbooks, online learning or google
• To be someone who can be relied on to be available for any tech related thing at any time of day or night
• To be a decision maker in your career or life

What is expected of me as a mentee?

• To try your earnest best to solve problems you have in the best way you can before asking questions
• When you do ask questions, ask good questions. This means presenting what you’ve already tried, providing detail about the solution, sharing code and any other insights you have into the problem. Remember that the mentor is giving up their time to help you so make sure you’re spending both of your time as efficiently as possible.
• When you ask questions, listen to the answers, and try your best to follow the advice given even if you think it won’t lead to the answer you want. Of course you are free to question the solution given but understand that you’ve asked a question because you’re stuck and following the advice given may lead to a new understanding you didn’t have before.

Conclusion

We hope this mentorship guide has given you the skills and confidence you need to build a long-lasting mentorship.