Tech Buddy

Overview

The Buddy’s role is the role of the guide.

This role is an ongoing commitment you make to three trainees for around three/four months.

You are the first point of contact for technical mentorship. For many trainees you will be the first developer they will ever work closely with. Meaningful technical mentorship is the heart of this role. You will build a close, supportive team with your trainees and model code review, accountability, time management and professional behaviour.

You will also attend a regular meeting with your Buddy volunteer team. This meeting is a place to communicate feedback on individual progress, get additional support and resources for your trainees, and share skills and insights with other Buddies.

Check in

Buddy groups meet every two weeks. (Some Buddies run standups more often.)

In these sessions, you will identify blockers and talk/live code through them. You will do a code review and give coursework feedback. You will reassure them and empathise with the immense challenge they are facing. It is really really hard!

You will also facilitate access to resources, including mentoring support, online study resources and access to study groups or peer learning. Developing your trainees to lead their own study groups is a great way to empower them in their own learning.

Coursework

We know that submitting coursework is a strong predictor of success, both in the course and in getting a job. As team lead, you should hold your trainees accountable and work with them on blockers, technical and emotional. But you can't do it for them.

Support your trainees with coursework, engage deeply with their code in code review, and kindly, firmly, expect them to meet their commitments. Don't spend your time chasing them to do the work. All our trainees are adults and you are developing them to be successful professionals. Accountability and time management is part of what some people may be learning here.

Feedback to Team

You know your trainees best, and it's vital you share that with the rest of the team.

We can and do provide extra support, but only if we know people need it. Secondly, if one of our students has an issue then we resolve it with them; if many have the same problem, then we have a systemic bug we need to fix.

Your volunteer team has a wealth of experience with trainee issues and can support you in addressing them.

Training & Resources

You can find the training for this role here.

An example Mentoring Session Plan can be found here.

Useful Links

Teacher Training	Curriculum
teachertraining.codeyourfuture.io	https://curriculum.codeyourfuture.io/