The Importance of Finding a Coding Mentor
Look. Listen. Look and listen. (If you are a Murderino you know). Let me tell you why it is important to find a coding mentor.
We live in a golden age of coding. With free resources, videos, coding platforms, commoditized technology, learning how to code seems easier than ever. However, it turns out there is such a thing as too much of a good thing, and there is such a thing as too many resources. Even if they are good resources, at some point you might feel a bit lost, you might feel stuck or lose motivation.
That’s why, to me, the best thing you can do when you start to learn programming, is to get a mentor or a tutor. I talk briefly about it in my article roadmap to go from a programming young Padawan to a programming Jedi master, but I’ll explain how to find a coding mentor here.
Personally, I was always interested in Natural Language Processing, and I had tried time and time again to improve my programming skills. But at some point I would always give up. There would be a particularly hard programming problem I couldn’t solve. More often than not, the problem would come up during a particularly stressful week, and I would put my course and learning material off – indefinitely. It wasn’t the priority (I had work and other studies and a life), it was stressful, hard, it made me feel like I wasn’t up to the task. I would get stuck, I would get frustrated, and with no one to turn to for help, I would tell my self I would look at it later. Later quickly became nevermore, and after a few months I would start all over again.
How My Coding Mentors Helped Me
It wasn’t until I started asking my manager for help that I started making real progress. I must say that both my manager and his second in command, our lead architect, are excellent programmers. They have years of experience and a truly amazing brain I love to pick. However, NLP and Python are not their specialty.
What made their contribution truly valuable to me was their ability to go beyond the problem or task at hand. Their experience gave them an astounding ability of abstraction, that allowed them to find creative solutions, and to walk me Step-by-step through said solution. They encouraged me to look at the issue from another angle, they led by example, and that helped me find solutions I probably wouldn’t have found on my own. It wasn’t necessarily their familiarity with a specific language, framework or subject, but the opportunity to talk about my challenges with someone that had already met them. And this brings me to my second point.
A mentor doesn’t necessarily have to be a true expert in the field, or an experienced professor/teacher. Of course, it depends on your level and your experience and the way you learn. However, in my experience a good mentor is someone that has already faced the obstacles you are facing, and can think outside the box and make you look at the subject differently.
You should see your mentor as your Obi Wan, guiding you on how to harness the power of the Force.
How to Find a Coding Mentor
So, here is how to find a coding mentor. Maybe a good mentor could be your manager, if you work in the field, or someone in your organization (company, non-profit, university, whatever it may be), that has experience as a programmer. Don’t be afraid to ask for help! In my experience, all the people I ever met working in tech or IT were absolutely adorable, kind, passionate, and definitely happy to help. And if they can’t help you directly, they will more than likely point you in the right direction.
But, if you are really at a loss and don’t know who to turn to, don’t despair just yet! I have got you! Down below, you will find four great websites to find a coding mentor. Enjoy!
My Mentor Taught Me Everything About The Force... Even The Nature Of The Dark Side.
Four Websites to Help you Find a Coding Mentor
CodingCoach
This is definitely my favourite platform to find a coding mentor. The platform is completely free and open-source, and is dedicated to finding coaches for programmers. The goal is to connect software developers with the right mentor, in order to give access to coding coaches to anyone around the world. A group of skilled and enthusiastic individuals created this platform in order to make the engineering world a better place to work in.
According to their homepage “This project was born out of a desire to provide a platform to connect mentors and mentees throughout the world at no cost. Coding Coach is created by the people, for the people. We believe that mentorship should be accessible to all people regardless of location or financial standing. In pursuit of this goal we will provide a free and open source platform to facilitate mentorship connections. Our mission is to foster a greater sense of collaboration and inclusiveness in the technical industry by providing a platform to aid the mentorship process”.
You can find experienced and skilled mentors on the platform, and you can filter them by technology, language, name, and location. It is a great platform if you are looking for someone to guide you through your first steps, when you are stuck on a problem or on a topic, and even to help you go from beginner to intermediate programmer. To the best of my knowledge, this is the only platform of the kind specifically dedicated to programmers. As I said, the platform is completely free, but you can donate by becoming a Patreon to support this amazing project if you are so inclined. Patreon tiers start at as little as 2 US dollars per month, and I believe this is truly a worthy project to get behind.
Exercism
This is another great platform, especially if you are a beginner. While the platform’s main goal is not connecting programmers with a coding mentor, you can find good mentors to help you out as you learn. The platform is completely free, and it aims at helping programmers develop their skills through learning, exercises and mentoring. On Exercism you will find coding exercises aimed at explaining specific concepts, and you’ll learn through a hands-on approach. The platform is actually a Command-Line interface first. You can use your terminal to directly download and submit exercises. Another great plus is the fact that everything is ready in your in-browser editor, and you can test 55 different languages without having to install an entire language locally.
You will also get automatic feedback on your exercises to improve right away. And of course there is the mentoring, which is a great asset and one of the reasons why I like the platform.
As the website presents it, their goal is to “Deepen your knowledge with human mentoring, for free. Discover new and exciting ways to approach an exercise by getting mentored on it. Become more familiar with the conventions, idioms, and opinions of a particular programming language”.
You will get great feedback on how to implement best practices and improve, and your mentor will be able to point out areas and concept you may need to develop or look into further.
Once again, the platform is completely free, but you can subscribe to become a supporter, or even make a one-time donation.
CodeMentor
CodeMentor is also a platform I really like because they get really specific when it comes to matching you with a coding mentor. They ask you specific questions about your background, your position, your goal, and what you would like help with, and if your mentor is going to help you on a personal or work related project. You will get the opportunity to give plenty of details and explain exactly what you need help with, to make sure you get the most out of your mentorship.
Unfortunately, however, this is not a free platform. Mentors set rates on a 15 minutes base, and the lowest rate is $15 for 15 minutes, which covers about 40% of the available mentors. The $20 tier, on the other hand, covers about 50% of the mentors’ rates. You also have a $30, $40, and $50 tiers, but I must admit that I find the prices pretty steep for just a 15 minutes session.
It is worth noting that “the minimum charge for live mentorship sessions is the mentor’s 15 mins rate. After 15 mins, you’ll be charged by the minute. Budgets are for reference only. Mentors determine their own rates, so the actual rate you pay is up to you and the mentor”. You can opt for a one-time or occasional mentorship, or for a long-term mentorship.
How to get the best out of your mentorship
As I said, the prices are pretty steep, so my advice is to resort to this platform when you are already in the intermediate stage. You might be looking for someone to help you debug your code, or you might be stuck on a specific task, or you might need a little help with a specific concept or algorithm.
In this case, to make sure you get the most out of your sessions, review your code on your own a couple of times. Then, start making a list of issues you can’t fix or steps you don’t know how to tackle. Try to find solutions on your own, and once you really gave it all, it might be good to book a session and ask your mentor. Remember to ask how you could have found the solution on your own, and to get materials and resources to improve your skills.
MentorCruise
MentorCruise is another paying platform. However, they provide flat monthly rates. Each mentor defines their rates and the accompanying package. Most mentors offer “Unlimited chat, e-mail or text with mentor, within boundaries”, and a determined number of calls per month. Rates and packages vary depending on the mentor, and you can choose the one that suits you the most. Some mentors even offer one-off sessions of 30 or 60 minutes. One of the best features is the free week trial: it allows you to “try out” your new mentor for a week, which gives you the chance to see if you have the right feeling with them, and if they are really a right fit for you.
Another great point worth noting is that mentors have a limited amount of spots available. I think it is important to underline this, because it means mentors are not there just to get as many students as possible, but care about the quality of the mentorship they offer. You actually have to fill in an application, and your free 7-days trial will start only if you and the selected mentor are a match.
They have a wide catalogue of mentors from all over the world with different rates and packages, and you are almost sure to find the right person for you. As I said, I love the idea of a mentorship monthly subscription: I personally resort to this solution when I am tackling a new challenge, like learning a new technology or working on a big project. I want to make sure I progress in the right way and I am looking at the issue from all different angles.
According to their website
“Your online mentor can elevate your career or be a shoulder to lean on. Get a personalized mentoring program, including curated study plans, regular check-ins, and unlimited actionable support. Be part of an online mentor community that spans across the globe”.
So there you have it! Now you know how to find a coding mentor. I am sure you can find the right mentor for you on one of these platforms. As I said, it is such an important step to make sure you are going in the right direction and keep improving without getting discouraged! I mean, we wouldn’t even remember Luke Skywalker if it weren’t for Obi Wan 😉
Please let me know if you do end up using one of these websites and share your experience with the community!
See you in an 8-bit!
