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I'm an experienced developer who would be interested in helping others. But I have no idea who it is I'm helping here, and also I'm not sure what the company's

I'm an experienced developer who would be interested in helping others. But I have no idea who it is I'm helping here, and also I'm not sure what the company's role is or how they benefit, etc. I'm happy to volunteer my time in some situations, but not if I feel others are profiting off it in some non-explicit way. Would love to see more info about who exactly you are, what your plans with this thing are, what your financial motivations are, how my contact info is to be used, etc. before I commit to offering help.

Fede_V 12y ago
Excellent questions. I'd also like to see this answered.
cruise02 12y ago
Check local colleges to see if they offer tutoring to students in CS courses. Many universities offer the service free to students, but they still pay tutors.
- nmrm 12y ago
  It's worth noting that at most colleges, the pay is quite low and most of the tutors are older students. Also, it's less "I'm motivated to learn something on my own and quite intelligent, but don't know how to code" and a lot more "tell me how to do this project so I can drink this weekend."
  - cruise02 12y ago
    Yes, the pay is low if you're still a student. It goes up if you've already got a degree, and even more for a graduate degree. If students ask you to do their projects for them, you can always refuse.
- Derbasti 12y ago
  In some colleges, you can even lecture. That's what I did for a few semesters. However, be warned that preparing a lecture is a LOT of work, and pay is usually not that great. Its a great experience though,
bnejad 12y ago
One of their tweets[1] seems to suggest they will be promoting(read: selling?) leads to companies who need freelancers? [1]: https://twitter.com/askadev_/status/487288537579266048 https://twitter.com/askadev_/status/487288537579266048 Text: "Developers: Secure more freelance work and standout to the big tech companies by mentoring. We promote you!"
- ab_thomas 12y ago
  We won't be selling leads. We'd like to feature mentors on the site as a way to thank them for offering their time for free - it's optional upon sign up.
fat0wl 12y ago
Yeah I may help out a non-profit team but nothing like this. When you work for a company teacher/student relationships are somewhat natural, its part of what the company is paying for (senior devs should mentor juniors). Even then there is the worry "this guy could take my job..." but you expect the company to reward your teaching ability and promote you. In a case like this it just seems like a way for the hobby market to steal more work from solid engineers. I know guys who do this for $$ or for close friends knowing that they'll get something in return (help on a startup idea?) but teaching for free is odd -- tutors in other fields get paid, why should comp sci keep racing to the bottom? I would be much more comfortable with "Code my startup project: I retain property rights, you get to learn". It's a much more even agreement. Not super exploitative given that the tutor probably could code everything they are teaching, but they let the student do it at a slower pace in exchange for some oversight (hopefully a lower time investment for the senior than coding the project themselves).
- Fede_V 12y ago
  Is the last part of your post meant to be ironic? People should feel privileged for the purpose of coding for someone else's for profit company, for free?
  - elohesra 12y ago
    It's essentially the concept of an apprenticeship as it works in the UK. The apprentice is paid a far below minimum wage salary, and is ostensibly trained by the company they apprentice with as part of their remuneration. The apprentice then works on commercial projects, again ostensibly with mentors. Heck, throw in a ~$5/h wage and it's basically the UK apprenticeship model except with the guarantee of an actually qualified mentor. I agree that working for free is a bit of a steep ask, but I know I'd prefer to work for free with a properly qualified mentor than work at $5/h for someone totally unqualified (as my own apprenticeship turned out some years back). EDIT: Yes, my last line is a false dichotomy. Ideally you'd be working for some sort of wage with a qualified mentor.
    - Fede_V 12y ago
ab_thomas 12y ago
Plans are to pair students up with mentors/teachers for one 30mins slots per week for free. We're hoping to extend it to 1 x 60mins or 2 x 30mins slots. We like to make enough to pay the bills and help students learn to write quality code.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- jordanlev 12y ago
  I think what you're implying is that students could pay for extra lessons per week? You might want to work on making this explicit, it's really hard to tell what you're getting at here (I'm still not entirely sure). And to my original question: would the tutors get paid a portion of the additional time? Just really confused about what exactly the situation is you're presenting. I think you'll have a hard time rounding up mentors if you're unable to clearly explain it.
lbotos 12y ago
If you know C++ and Qt, shoot me an email. :) I need some help.

Fede_V 12y ago

Excellent questions. I'd also like to see this answered.

cruise02 12y ago

Check local colleges to see if they offer tutoring to students in CS courses. Many universities offer the service free to students, but they still pay tutors.

nmrm 12y ago
It's worth noting that at most colleges, the pay is quite low and most of the tutors are older students. Also, it's less "I'm motivated to learn something on my own and quite intelligent, but don't know how to code" and a lot more "tell me how to do this project so I can drink this weekend."
- cruise02 12y ago
  Yes, the pay is low if you're still a student. It goes up if you've already got a degree, and even more for a graduate degree. If students ask you to do their projects for them, you can always refuse.
Derbasti 12y ago
In some colleges, you can even lecture. That's what I did for a few semesters. However, be warned that preparing a lecture is a LOT of work, and pay is usually not that great. Its a great experience though,

bnejad 12y ago

One of their tweets[1] seems to suggest they will be promoting(read: selling?) leads to companies who need freelancers? [1]: https://twitter.com/askadev_/status/487288537579266048 https://twitter.com/askadev_/status/487288537579266048 Text: "Developers: Secure more freelance work and standout to the big tech companies by mentoring. We promote you!"

ab_thomas 12y ago
We won't be selling leads. We'd like to feature mentors on the site as a way to thank them for offering their time for free - it's optional upon sign up.

fat0wl 12y ago

Yeah I may help out a non-profit team but nothing like this. When you work for a company teacher/student relationships are somewhat natural, its part of what the company is paying for (senior devs should mentor juniors). Even then there is the worry "this guy could take my job..." but you expect the company to reward your teaching ability and promote you. In a case like this it just seems like a way for the hobby market to steal more work from solid engineers. I know guys who do this for $$ or for close friends knowing that they'll get something in return (help on a startup idea?) but teaching for free is odd -- tutors in other fields get paid, why should comp sci keep racing to the bottom? I would be much more comfortable with "Code my startup project: I retain property rights, you get to learn". It's a much more even agreement. Not super exploitative given that the tutor probably could code everything they are teaching, but they let the student do it at a slower pace in exchange for some oversight (hopefully a lower time investment for the senior than coding the project themselves).

Fede_V 12y ago
Is the last part of your post meant to be ironic? People should feel privileged for the purpose of coding for someone else's for profit company, for free?
- elohesra 12y ago
  It's essentially the concept of an apprenticeship as it works in the UK. The apprentice is paid a far below minimum wage salary, and is ostensibly trained by the company they apprentice with as part of their remuneration. The apprentice then works on commercial projects, again ostensibly with mentors. Heck, throw in a ~$5/h wage and it's basically the UK apprenticeship model except with the guarantee of an actually qualified mentor. I agree that working for free is a bit of a steep ask, but I know I'd prefer to work for free with a properly qualified mentor than work at $5/h for someone totally unqualified (as my own apprenticeship turned out some years back). EDIT: Yes, my last line is a false dichotomy. Ideally you'd be working for some sort of wage with a qualified mentor.
  - Fede_V 12y ago

ab_thomas 12y ago

Plans are to pair students up with mentors/teachers for one 30mins slots per week for free. We're hoping to extend it to 1 x 60mins or 2 x 30mins slots. We like to make enough to pay the bills and help students learn to write quality code.

deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
jordanlev 12y ago
I think what you're implying is that students could pay for extra lessons per week? You might want to work on making this explicit, it's really hard to tell what you're getting at here (I'm still not entirely sure). And to my original question: would the tutors get paid a portion of the additional time? Just really confused about what exactly the situation is you're presenting. I think you'll have a hard time rounding up mentors if you're unable to clearly explain it.

lbotos 12y ago

If you know C++ and Qt, shoot me an email. :) I need some help.