I will be mentoring/managing an intern, any advice for me?
5 comments
Doing this currently:
- Assume they know nothing, what is obvious and routine to you is probably brand new to them, or they might have had a 2hrs module about it in college, but basically zero experience (that's why they're interning)
- Give them the most simple task at first, but something that make them use your workflow (read ticket, change ticket status, code, test, commit, PR), this is already a lot for them to digest
- Include them in your project stand-up
- check-in once or twice a week, maybe a little more at the beginning. Send a DM at the end of the day to see what's up, no need to call all the time
- Do some pair programming, show them stuff you work on, show them you working on stuff
- Introduce them to colleagues in meetings, make your colleague introduce themselves
- Make sure you give them a task that interest them, or show them why this is an important task
- Make sure not to time pressure, they're learning and cheap, can't have it all...
- Assume they know nothing, what is obvious and routine to you is probably brand new to them, or they might have had a 2hrs module about it in college, but basically zero experience (that's why they're interning)
- Give them the most simple task at first, but something that make them use your workflow (read ticket, change ticket status, code, test, commit, PR), this is already a lot for them to digest
- Include them in your project stand-up
- check-in once or twice a week, maybe a little more at the beginning. Send a DM at the end of the day to see what's up, no need to call all the time
- Do some pair programming, show them stuff you work on, show them you working on stuff
- Introduce them to colleagues in meetings, make your colleague introduce themselves
- Make sure you give them a task that interest them, or show them why this is an important task
- Make sure not to time pressure, they're learning and cheap, can't have it all...
Communicate what it is about your work that gives you pleasure. Tell what it is that is different (from others you know) about how you approach the job, and why that works well for you. Your intern might identify with your approach -- or maybe he or she will identify with someone else you talk about. Tell lots of stories that communicate how people in your line of work think.
Talk about the people at your workplace who really add value to the organization. In each case, what are they bringing to the team that makes them so valuable?
"Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity." - Gen. George S. Patton, Jr
"Do not try to satisfy your vanity by teaching a great many things. Awaken people's curiosity. It is enough to open minds; do not overload them. Put there just a spark. If there is some good inflammable stuff, it will catch fire." - Anatole France
"Morale is increased by the accomplishment of difficult tasks." - Erwin Rommel
"Anything will give up its secrets if you love it enough." - George Washington Carver
"He who can take no interest in what is small will take false interest in what is great." - John Ruskin
"Few things help an individual more than to place responsibility upon him and to let him know that you trust him." Booker T. Washington
"The work will teach you how to do it." - Estonian proverb
Talk about the people at your workplace who really add value to the organization. In each case, what are they bringing to the team that makes them so valuable?
"Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity." - Gen. George S. Patton, Jr
"Do not try to satisfy your vanity by teaching a great many things. Awaken people's curiosity. It is enough to open minds; do not overload them. Put there just a spark. If there is some good inflammable stuff, it will catch fire." - Anatole France
"Morale is increased by the accomplishment of difficult tasks." - Erwin Rommel
"Anything will give up its secrets if you love it enough." - George Washington Carver
"He who can take no interest in what is small will take false interest in what is great." - John Ruskin
"Few things help an individual more than to place responsibility upon him and to let him know that you trust him." Booker T. Washington
"The work will teach you how to do it." - Estonian proverb
Speaking as a rising senior with 1.5yr's of internship xp's:
General Advice:
- How open an intern is to their mentor can really affect attitude and all of the ans below. Try to create opportunities outside of work to get to know each other.
Your questions:
- Setup a recurring meeting, definitely. If you ask them whether they want it, its a coin flip but chances are if they are shy/introverted or have something to prove they will say no and it makes for a bad experience. If you say there will be one, it takes pressure off the intern.
- For professional growth, try to get them to sit in on meetings that you have, or in general try to put them in positions to meet as many people as possible (honestly what I think the most important thing in an internship). Don't just have them write code. Have them draft write ups, emails, and organize meetings.
- Technical growth is trickier and it depends on how well you know the intern's need. Big recommendation for this one is finding a way to make the intern comfortable with asking for help and helping them be open about their skill set without stress. A resume really can't tell you too much about what they know or don't. If they show interest in an area, help them explore it or find people in the company that can give them advice/maybe give an intern tech talk.
- Feedback every two weeks is a good idea if done right. You need to find a way, even if you are blunt about it, to tell the intern that negative feedback won't affect your opinions of them. Also this is one is obvious, but don't let it affect your opinion of them :)
Best of luck!
General Advice:
- How open an intern is to their mentor can really affect attitude and all of the ans below. Try to create opportunities outside of work to get to know each other.
Your questions:
- Setup a recurring meeting, definitely. If you ask them whether they want it, its a coin flip but chances are if they are shy/introverted or have something to prove they will say no and it makes for a bad experience. If you say there will be one, it takes pressure off the intern.
- For professional growth, try to get them to sit in on meetings that you have, or in general try to put them in positions to meet as many people as possible (honestly what I think the most important thing in an internship). Don't just have them write code. Have them draft write ups, emails, and organize meetings.
- Technical growth is trickier and it depends on how well you know the intern's need. Big recommendation for this one is finding a way to make the intern comfortable with asking for help and helping them be open about their skill set without stress. A resume really can't tell you too much about what they know or don't. If they show interest in an area, help them explore it or find people in the company that can give them advice/maybe give an intern tech talk.
- Feedback every two weeks is a good idea if done right. You need to find a way, even if you are blunt about it, to tell the intern that negative feedback won't affect your opinions of them. Also this is one is obvious, but don't let it affect your opinion of them :)
Best of luck!
I did this a few years back, though it was in person and not remote.
> Since we're remote, should I schedule a recurring meeting for us to chat every day? Or should I keep it more free-form?
I would schedule a short chat daily for the first week or so while making it clear that they can reach out any time they have questions. At the end of the first week put the ball in their court by asking if the daily catch-ups are helping or if they are a waste of time. No need to do something that neither of you would get any benefit from.
> How can I help my intern grow technically and professionally?
Code reviews and pair programming help. Any questions that were purely technical and didn't require domain knowledge I would follow up with "what have you tried?". I believe it is important to teach the individual that they should put some effort to figure things out on their own before asking for help. I definitely encourage asking for help as well and will point them in the direction so they could potentially figure the solution out on their own. If they are still stuck I would then help them figure it out directly 1 on 1. By giving pointers on how to find the answer to their questions it will help them later be more self-sufficient in the long run.
> Should I ask him for feedback on how I'm doing every couple of weeks?
Yes, but phrasing is important. Saying "How am I doing?" is most likely not going to be helpful but making about them could be. Asking questions like "What do you feel is holding you back?" or "Do you feel like you are set up for success?". Both questions can give you an idea on how you are doing without making it about you. Some people may not feel comfortable saying anything potentially negative if somebody asks them "how am I doing?" but if they are asked about how they are doing and their feelings they may open up more and, of course, it can give you a glimpse in to how well you are providing actual mentorship.
> Since we're remote, should I schedule a recurring meeting for us to chat every day? Or should I keep it more free-form?
I would schedule a short chat daily for the first week or so while making it clear that they can reach out any time they have questions. At the end of the first week put the ball in their court by asking if the daily catch-ups are helping or if they are a waste of time. No need to do something that neither of you would get any benefit from.
> How can I help my intern grow technically and professionally?
Code reviews and pair programming help. Any questions that were purely technical and didn't require domain knowledge I would follow up with "what have you tried?". I believe it is important to teach the individual that they should put some effort to figure things out on their own before asking for help. I definitely encourage asking for help as well and will point them in the direction so they could potentially figure the solution out on their own. If they are still stuck I would then help them figure it out directly 1 on 1. By giving pointers on how to find the answer to their questions it will help them later be more self-sufficient in the long run.
> Should I ask him for feedback on how I'm doing every couple of weeks?
Yes, but phrasing is important. Saying "How am I doing?" is most likely not going to be helpful but making about them could be. Asking questions like "What do you feel is holding you back?" or "Do you feel like you are set up for success?". Both questions can give you an idea on how you are doing without making it about you. Some people may not feel comfortable saying anything potentially negative if somebody asks them "how am I doing?" but if they are asked about how they are doing and their feelings they may open up more and, of course, it can give you a glimpse in to how well you are providing actual mentorship.
Disclaimer: I am a working student ("part-time" intern in Germany, more or less), should not make any difference though.
Recurring meetings: This might be more personal preference, but I personally would go for scheduled meetings. Every day might be overkill though. Depending on the size of tasks, every other day will probably be just fine. Many questions will likely come up once actually doing work, so be somewhat available to answer them.
Growth: This is probably a lot harder to do remotely, and also largely depends on the previous experience of your intern. One important thing my mentor taught me early on was how to scope tasks, ask the right questions and when to say no to something.
When someone would ask me to do some report, I would always just do it and not question what exactly I was doing (Because for the most part, I did not really know). It turned out that often times the people asking me for it missed something that I had noticed right away but was afraid to ask. I would end up doing the report twice then.
This obviously comes with experience and once you feel comfortable with the systems used etc., but once you feel your intern knows their way around, encourage them to be critical of requests and always ask questions if they notice something that might be off.
Feedback: I would strongly suggest you do so. But also ask him/her, if he/she would like feedback. This also ties in with the growth aspect. You will need the first few weeks to identify strengths and weaknesses and once you notice a recurring theme, that is something you can give feedback on.
Personal example: I was always trying to finish my tasks quickly and more often than not there were subtle mistakes in there, which were always super trivial to fix, but they were there. In my first feedback session, my mentor told me that he was absolutely astounded by my speed, but would rather have me take more time and be sure to do it correctly than rush it. This is obvious in hindsight, but especially if you want to prove yourself, it might not be clear whether it is better to be fast or correct.
Some general things: - Try to integrate your intern into your daily work life as much as you can. What I especially enjoyed was my mentor asking me questions about a task he had and was not sure how to proceed with it. Even if you do not get useful input at first, it helps your intern feel like actually doing useful work. And at one point he will likely be able to provide actual useful input to your day to day work, so its a win-win.
- This is often unavoidable, but please try to give him/her actual work, not something like "Sort these folders by ascending date" or "Print out 50 pdf's and send them to customers". This depends on whether your intern got hired for a certain project or just a general internship though.
Recurring meetings: This might be more personal preference, but I personally would go for scheduled meetings. Every day might be overkill though. Depending on the size of tasks, every other day will probably be just fine. Many questions will likely come up once actually doing work, so be somewhat available to answer them.
Growth: This is probably a lot harder to do remotely, and also largely depends on the previous experience of your intern. One important thing my mentor taught me early on was how to scope tasks, ask the right questions and when to say no to something.
When someone would ask me to do some report, I would always just do it and not question what exactly I was doing (Because for the most part, I did not really know). It turned out that often times the people asking me for it missed something that I had noticed right away but was afraid to ask. I would end up doing the report twice then.
This obviously comes with experience and once you feel comfortable with the systems used etc., but once you feel your intern knows their way around, encourage them to be critical of requests and always ask questions if they notice something that might be off.
Feedback: I would strongly suggest you do so. But also ask him/her, if he/she would like feedback. This also ties in with the growth aspect. You will need the first few weeks to identify strengths and weaknesses and once you notice a recurring theme, that is something you can give feedback on.
Personal example: I was always trying to finish my tasks quickly and more often than not there were subtle mistakes in there, which were always super trivial to fix, but they were there. In my first feedback session, my mentor told me that he was absolutely astounded by my speed, but would rather have me take more time and be sure to do it correctly than rush it. This is obvious in hindsight, but especially if you want to prove yourself, it might not be clear whether it is better to be fast or correct.
Some general things: - Try to integrate your intern into your daily work life as much as you can. What I especially enjoyed was my mentor asking me questions about a task he had and was not sure how to proceed with it. Even if you do not get useful input at first, it helps your intern feel like actually doing useful work. And at one point he will likely be able to provide actual useful input to your day to day work, so its a win-win.
- This is often unavoidable, but please try to give him/her actual work, not something like "Sort these folders by ascending date" or "Print out 50 pdf's and send them to customers". This depends on whether your intern got hired for a certain project or just a general internship though.
This will be my first time having an intern, so I'm looking for some advice.
General advice is very welcome, but here are some specific questions I have:
- Since we're remote, should I schedule a recurring meeting for us to chat every day? Or should I keep it more free-form?
- How can I help my intern grow technically and professionally?
- Should I ask him for feedback on how I'm doing every couple of weeks?