Quality Bar on Mentoring Teammates

Question

The architectural principles of one of my projects at work is about to be reused by my teammate. This teammate is about to start depending on me before they start writing code by reading my design docs I wrote, asking me questions, and using that info to create their design docs for their project. They might even ask me for help about potential solutions to the issues they will run into.

My goal is to transform this opportunity into a solid STAR story for mentoring in faang interviews (more cushion for being mid level and making the case of a less risky up or out to senior as a long term growth plan for me). However, I know like everything, doing it right is better than tryna stretch the truth.

In that vein, my understanding of if I did a good job or not is

If they have the tools to ensure their project doesn't need rework due to missed edge cases and all.
When I show up early to review design, I act with a vested interest in terms of high level design.
I am a sounding board for how they should handle those tough edge cases without getting too involved.
If they can do more complex problem solving on their own in the future, and think more critically beyond "wiring everything together".

How do you think this approach sounds with maximizing this opportunity for myself?

Charlie Vuong · Accepted Answer

One useful exercise is to think ahead to how you want to present yourself in the next performance review. If you can work backwards, this will better align what actions and support you need to provide to show that you are operating at the next level. I would look at the criteria for a senior engineer and see if you can check off as many bullet points as possible for this mentorship opportunity. Make sure that your teammate's project isn't just set up to succeed but also provides business impact, business impact that wouldn't have been possible if not for you laying the foundation.

Quality Bar on Mentoring Teammates

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