Finding a Mentor

[00:00:00]
>> Student: Any recommendations for getting a mentor?
>> Jerome Hardaway: All right, cool, I actually have database on this. First things first, if you're an aspiring software engineer, you don't go past two years of experience for yourself. Matter of fact, just as a software engineer, period, you don't go past two years of whoever you're trying to find as a mentor because one, when you go past two years, that person is focused on learning as well.

[00:00:28]
So it is either you're pulling them back to focus on the skill set that they've already proven to, or they had to move forward and try to teach you things that you might not be ready for, right? So one of the things that we do at Vetsu Code, you have to have a year of production experience to be a mentor, but you cannot have more than two years of experience for an aspiring software engineer.

[00:00:53]
That's just what we've seen. So that's the first step. I would say when it comes to finding a mentor or you don't have something in place for a system to do that, start with work, right? Start with asking feedback on your projects, on your products, and then as people start giving you feedback, they kinda start falling into that mentorship role anyway, especially in local communities formalities.

[00:01:21]
I've always found it weird when people just come up and asked me to be their mentor. We don't even know each other. You wanna build that rapport first cuz you might not know me, I tell people that I'm a very hard mentor, I'm very skill based. I'm very, I will make you go and do something again.

[00:01:43]
I am all in your issues and I'm asking, I'm adding more issues to your work. I am like straight up, I am your worst nightmare as a mentor. I'm not the type that's like, hey, good job. I'm like, hey, no, you got to fix this, fix that, fix this, fix some more of this.

[00:01:59]
I am gonna make. I'm gonna make you have professional grade work already. So you have to be like, are you willing to deal with someone that when you ask them to review your personal project piddly thing and kick it back with five, six things that they want fixed, right?

[00:02:18]
No one's even gonna see this, I'm like, I don't care Here, I saw it, right? So you have to know that about that person before you like, hey, be my mentor. You have to focus on building those long-term relationships before you get to the, hey, will you formally pour into me?

[00:02:32]
Will we have this meeting time? Things like that. That is like my recommendation. You also, you have to be prepared to hear no, right? Cuz some people, they might not have the bandwidth, but also, like I said, if you're doing it the right way, that mentorship thing kind of happens organically, right?

[00:02:51]
And that's what you really want on mentorship. You really don't want, it's not like a knight and squire thing that people keep trying to make it. It's like, I'm not gonna follow me for seven years and then one day become a knight yourself. I'm pouring into you in a or we're gonna be somewhat systematic but it's also gonna be organic.

[00:03:13]
I wanna see you win because seeing you win means I win as well because I am emotionally invested in your victories, right? That is what you want it to turn into, right? You want, hey, I just did this big thing. You're like, what, really, you did? Let me go tell three other people the thing you did, right?

[00:03:32]
That you don't even know and then introduce them to you. That's how you want your mentorship to turn into, right? You don't even want, you want to get to the point where you're not even asking. You're just, stuff is just happening. Happening for you. All right? And that's why you wanna do it in an organic, showing, you wanna add value to the relationship type way, all right?

[00:03:49]
So, I guess that's a long way of me answering that question of how to find a mentor, I don't believe it's a one size, meets fits all. But I do think, that when you start with the things you build, and then you go from there, it makes it easier.