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I'm in the midst of being onboarded at a very large healthcare organization. In addition to the complex SOA infrastructure, we deal with a multitude of database
by organsnyder 11y ago
I'm in the midst of being onboarded at a very large healthcare organization. In addition to the complex SOA infrastructure, we deal with a multitude of databases, accessible through many different methods, from a number of vendors. There's a ton to take in—not to mention the business complexity inherent to the organization as a whole.
Heddleston's point about having less-senior people do the mentoring is especially apt. While I've received support from everyone in the team, the most helpful person has actually been an intern with only a few years of programming experience under his belt. While I have over a decade more general programming experience than he has, he knows a lot more about the specific domain, and has been an excellent teacher. I feel that this arrangement has been beneficial for both of us—as I've gained domain knowledge, he's gained confidence and depth in his own knowledge.
I think that a big part of this is not setting expectations too high—no matter how senior the new employee is. While I have a fair amount of experience, the expectation in my new position—both from me and from the team—is that it will take me a while to get up to speed,(especially given the complexity inherent to the role), even though I'm not coming in as a junior dev. Therefore, I don't feel the need to pretend that I'm an expert in something that I'm not, and there's no ego hit when I'm being mentored by someone who is technically my junior.
In my city, it seems like most everyone is looking for senior devs—to the point that they leave positions unfilled for months rather than hiring someone they don't consider senior enough. This is madness, and damaging to the industry as a whole. We need to focus more on efficiently developing talent, and Heddleston seems to have some great ideas for doing so.