4 Benefits of Having a Tech Career Mentor
Our coding bootcamps train students to be job-ready, full-stack software engineers. In addition to the technical skills needed for that pursuit, we emphasize soft skills that employers are looking for. These include creating meaningful connections with peers, instructors, and our careers team, as well as networking at events and through informational interviews to expand your reach, understanding, and perspective.
For many of our graduates, these important connections continue on the job through professional mentorship, often with senior engineers or others in management or leadership roles. We encourage our grads to seek mentors when possible, as they provide a variety of short and long-term benefits. In this post, we’ll expand on four such benefits, and hear from two Tech Elevator graduates who deeply value the mentors they have on the job now.
Here’s How Tech Career Mentors Make a Difference
Finding mentorship on the job is important for people working in tech for four key reasons:
1. Confidence and Impostor Syndrome
Many people experience impostor syndrome in tech, especially in their first roles, but even as their careers and responsibilities grow. A mentor can affirm your progress, help you feel less alone, and validate your experiences.
Tech Elevator graduate Jack Telford currently has a mentor in his role as a Full-Stack Developer at RDI Corporation.
“My mentor has a simple philosophy: it takes as long as it takes to get it right,” said Jack. “We have standups three times a week, and when I’m working on something particularly challenging, he encourages me to troubleshoot independently before asking for help. His approach is intentional because he wants me to solve the problem on my own, find a way to work around it temporarily, or step away and return with a fresh perspective.”
2. Navigating an Evolving Industry
Tech moves fast. New tools, frameworks, and best practices routinely emerge. A mentor can help you prioritize what to learn and how to adapt to industry changes.
For example, Jack’s mentor helped him navigate new tools and languages through a months-long guided practice.
“My mentor, a senior developer, guided me through a seven-month learning process where I had to learn Orchard Core, YesSQL, and C#,” said Jack Telford. “My early projects were small, like dynamically generating JavaScript IDs and optimizing SQL queries, and my first major assignment was developing a custom applicant testing platform to replace expensive third-party software.”
3. Skills Development Beyond the Technical
Success in tech isn’t just about technical skills. Mentors can also help with:
- Communication and collaboration
- Problem-solving approaches
- Code review and feedback etiquette
4. Career Growth Strategies and Opportunities
There’s no one-size-fits-all path in tech. Mentors can offer insights into different roles, help you identify goals, share real-world experiences about how to transition, and make introductions to people and projects that you might want to seek. This can be especially valuable in tech, where internal opportunities and word-of-mouth hiring are common.
Another Tech Elevator graduate, Dj Litts, recently spoke with Course Report about his preference for in-person roles and mentorship. During the interview, he said: “Networking is so important and easier to do in person. I have two mentors at my company, and every two weeks we meet for about 45 minutes. If I need to use a connection like that in the future for either a job switch or changing lines of business within the company, I think it would be easier with those in-person connections.”
No matter if you’re making connections in-person, like Dj, or remotely, like Jack, nurturing a relationship with a mentor can be a powerful way to grow your tech career.
For Jack, it’s led to job satisfaction and a bright outlook on what’s to come.
“This mentorship aligns with what my father taught me: you don’t just want a lead or a manager, you want someone who’s invested in teaching you,” said Jack. “When I was hired, I promised [my mentor] I’d stay for five years to learn from him before considering moving on. In an industry where job-hopping is common, both he and our product owner assured me I’d be valued here. That trust and long-term investment mean a lot, and I’m genuinely happy where I am. Having a mentor who really cares about you is incredible.”
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Learn more about our coding bootcamps, including all the technical and soft skills you’ll learn as a student – plus the career coaching you’ll receive before and after graduation.