How having a mentor helped me get a job in tech

If you are learning to code, chances are you’ve heard people talk about having a code mentor. Someone who works in tech, and has learned the languages and skills you are learning right now.

Many have made it into tech without a mentor, so having a mentor is certainly not a requirement. But a good mentor can really propel you forward in your learning journey.

Here’s some insight into my experience with a code mentor and how it benefited me.

How I accidentally got a code mentor

Several years ago I was learning to code, trying to get a job in tech. I got a tip from a friend of mine to check out this website that offered courses that were guaranteed to help you get a job in tech.

I won’t mention the website itself, because I can’t say I would recommend it. It was very expensive and the video course material wasn’t that good. I ended up just using courses I found for free on Youtube instead.

However, there was one thing that made my enrollment in that program absolutely worth it.

Through the program, I received a personal mentor. That was an absolute game-changer for me. I believe that this was the single most significant aspect in my entire learning journey.

My mentor was a programmer all the way in New Zealand. I looked forward to our calls, because she was friendly and made me feel comfortable from the very beginning.

A mentor helps stay focused on what’s relevant

Even though my mentor was not a web developer herself, her main task was to help me stay focused on learning what was relevant for a front end developer role.

It seems like every day there’s a new framework or tool available in the front end space. It can be difficult to understand what you should focus on learning first. And even when you know what you should focus on, it can still be tempting to get side-tracked by the new and exciting things.

A mentor, who understands what is really relevant to you getting a job, will be able to pull you away from wasting time with that flashy new technology that won’t help you reach your goal.

Staying focused is essential to getting into a tech job as quickly as possible. That way, once you have the job, you can continue learning on the job, and eventually get around to all the shiny new frameworks once you have the basics down.

A mentor helps when you get stuck

We’ve all been there, you’re working on a project and you get stuck trying to fix this one bug that just won’t seem to go away. Even after Googling for hours, there seems to be no one on the internet who has ever had this particular problem.

You’re stuck. Now what? If Google doesn’t know, how can you possibly figure out the solution?

That’s where a peer programming session with a good ol’ human being always wins.

A mentor can help you walk through your code from a fresh perspective. Sometimes, they just need to ask a few questions to nudge you in the right direction. More often than not, you’ll be able to figure out the problem without your mentor telling you, just by going through your code with them. And when that’s not the case, your mentor will usually be able to explain to you what the problem is so you can know for next time.

A mentor encourages consistency

When I was learning, I had a call with my mentor every two weeks or so, and they rarely lasted more than an hour. At the end of every call, we would schedule the next one, and I would always know what goal I was expected to reach by the next call.

These regular calls really helped give me the accountability I needed to push my learning forward consistently.

Consistency is absolutely key. Figure out how to get to a point of consistent progress.

Many people say that having a mentor is overrated, and I can imagine that it might be for people who are just super disciplined and motivated all the time anyway.

But the reality is that many of us have a very hard time staying consistent and motivated over a long period of time.

You might be able to get there without a mentor, but if you’re struggling, consider reaching out to someone who can help keep you accountable in some way, even if they’re learning just like you.

Even a little progress, as long as it’s happening consistently, will get you somewhere. And before you know it, you’ll be where you want to be.

Conclusion

I hope you got thought-provoking insights into how having a mentor can help you become job-ready in no time. I’m happy to answer any questions you have in the comments. If you enjoyed this article, please show me some love in the reactions and the comments.

Also, I would love to write about how to find a good code mentor next. If you’d like to read about that, let me know in the comments as well.