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Comparing a structured mentorship program to just asking senior devs random questions over coffee for 6 months
Tried both approaches after switching to a new team at a FinTech startup in Austin, and the mentorship program gave me actual milestones and feedback loops while the casual coffee chats mostly just left me with lukewarm lattes and vague advice that didn't stick - has anyone else found that unstructured networking falls flat compared to a formal setup?
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kim81914d ago
Flip it around and consider that structured programs can accidentally kill the organic relationships you need for long term career growth. Does your mentor actually have skin in the game or are they just checking boxes?
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angela_grant14d ago
Wait, hold up @kim819 - you actually think box checking is a bigger risk than the guy who gives you the same "have you tried debugging it" advice five times in a row over cold brew? That seems backwards to me. The structured program at least had someone who was evaluated on my progress, not just on whether they showed up for a chat. The coffee chats felt good in the moment but I couldn't tell you a single concrete thing I learned from them. With the mentorship I had actual goals and someone who was accountable if I wasn't hitting them. That box checking thing might be a problem in some places but I'd take that over the complete nothing I got from the casual approach.
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