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throwaway account because... reasons. I've been really struggling with my junior recently. He joined the company during the first lockdown and so has been worki

throwaway account because... reasons. I've been really struggling with my junior recently. He joined the company during the first lockdown and so has been working fully remotely. It's been nearly two years now and I get the feeling he hasn't progressed anywhere nearly as much as I would of expected. He's extremely slow completing tickets and when he does, the work seems very sloppy. The thing is he's remote so it's very hard to gauge if he's slacking off or really struggling. By being remote he's missed out on so much of the casual conversations about why things are the way they are or when we throw around design ideas or problems with other devs in the room. Day to day I swing from "This pandemic is ruining this guys career" to "has this guy got a second full time job". To loop back to OP. My company doesn't normally hire juniors. I pushed very hard to hire a junior and was eager to give to someone else what the senior at my first job did for me. Fast forward two years I feel burnt out by it and starting to regret it.

cloche 5y ago
I can relate. This was pre-pandemic but I was a mentor of a junior who I quickly identified as someone who was struggling. To compensate I spent a lot of time with them, meeting multiple times per week. Looking back after two years I can't honestly say I saw any improvement and think I just wasted all that time. I used to hear about companies that require junior devs to reach a certain level within 2 years or they're let go and think that was harsh. Now I think it's necessary. If someone hasn't shown improvement in 2 years, it's highly unlikely they'll change. I think I also learned the lesson that if you need to spend time on people, spend it on the people who are worth spending it on.
ComradePhil 5y ago
In my experience, I've found that if you are a small company or don't have 8-10 seniors, hiring juniors is extremely risky, specially if you are not in the U.S. (or anywhere you can't fire them instantly when you realize your mistake). One junior per 10 mid level to senior devs, and they can add value (given they are good) without taking anyone's time significantly. One junior for 5 seniors can still work (specially if you arw a much bigger company and can move the juniors to different teams), but be prepared to have times where one of the seniors is spending way too much time with the junior... but hopefully, in a year or two, the junior will be mostly independent or at least will learn how to make best use of their time they spend bothering the seniors... if they don't leave the company in that time, that is, which they most likely will do because someone with a +1 year experience becomes much more valuable, specially as a junior. This advice is too generic of course. I have also encountered juniors who have been a pleasure to work with, who will make sure to listen, understand and incorporate your ideas in a fast-paced way (juniors have the advantage of not knowing or caring about ALL the different things) and come back to you prepared with the right questions to make the best use of your time. But then these are not very common.

cloche 5y ago

I can relate. This was pre-pandemic but I was a mentor of a junior who I quickly identified as someone who was struggling. To compensate I spent a lot of time with them, meeting multiple times per week. Looking back after two years I can't honestly say I saw any improvement and think I just wasted all that time. I used to hear about companies that require junior devs to reach a certain level within 2 years or they're let go and think that was harsh. Now I think it's necessary. If someone hasn't shown improvement in 2 years, it's highly unlikely they'll change. I think I also learned the lesson that if you need to spend time on people, spend it on the people who are worth spending it on.

ComradePhil 5y ago

In my experience, I've found that if you are a small company or don't have 8-10 seniors, hiring juniors is extremely risky, specially if you are not in the U.S. (or anywhere you can't fire them instantly when you realize your mistake). One junior per 10 mid level to senior devs, and they can add value (given they are good) without taking anyone's time significantly. One junior for 5 seniors can still work (specially if you arw a much bigger company and can move the juniors to different teams), but be prepared to have times where one of the seniors is spending way too much time with the junior... but hopefully, in a year or two, the junior will be mostly independent or at least will learn how to make best use of their time they spend bothering the seniors... if they don't leave the company in that time, that is, which they most likely will do because someone with a +1 year experience becomes much more valuable, specially as a junior. This advice is too generic of course. I have also encountered juniors who have been a pleasure to work with, who will make sure to listen, understand and incorporate your ideas in a fast-paced way (juniors have the advantage of not knowing or caring about ALL the different things) and come back to you prepared with the right questions to make the best use of your time. But then these are not very common.