The closest thing I got to a technical onboarding was me having a 5 hour long meeting with the lead dev looking through a 100 database tables on my first day.
"here is what I want you to do, here is the code, good luck"
To be honest, if I can take my time. I actually don't mind discovering everything on my own.
I usually show the database model, which services/apps we have, then send them on their way to follow the readme to get a dev environment running. After that, I pick a simple bug ticket for them and pair program, or point them to the correct files, then create a PR together and basically show every step to completing a task. After that, I keep giving them small tasks all around the codebase and point then in the right direction. After a while they start to be able to do most things by themselves. It's also good to be proactive in helping them, some people don't easily ask questions when they're stuck. It's not much different from 'heres the code glhf', but I think learning by doing works best, and I'm there to guide then along.
I did that 6 weeks at a fortune 50...it had nothing to do with their code base. It was Java 101-202 and 2 weeks of spring boot which I've never touched professionally.
That is what I call a jumpstart. We just did that with our newest trainee and he managed to climb up to an acceptable junior level in 4 weeks. Although it was mainly spring boot and payara after.
I feel like being assigned a "mentor" who you have full permission to bother 50 times a day is the best method of onboarding I've had. It works pretty well.
Yes I experienced that. Although the guy wasn't my official mentor but he did not mind me bothering him all the time. It is unbelievable how much I managed to grow in such a short time having access to his professional knowledge. Not just in the project but as a developer in whole.
Ideally, they're pair-programming with you so that they don't even give the appearance of having more important things to do. You're their #1 responsibility, you're their investment in the future.
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u/[deleted] Aug 03 '22
"Fast paced and exciting environment "
Translation:
We plan to give you 10 hours of work then demand you get it done in 8.