Ruby for All

We Hired a Junior Dev with Mike Munroe

Mar 30, 2023

Mike Munroe, Co-founder of OBLSK, discusses their Junior Developer Apprentice Program and the importance of mentorship. Topics include remote vs in-person mentorship, strategies for asking for help, and the importance of passion for success. Plus, Mike shares his background in programming and the challenges of hiring and mentoring junior developers.

30:35

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Episode guests

Mike Munroe

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

Providing mentorship and a framework is crucial for the progress of junior developers in becoming independent and self-sustaining within a year.

Encouraging juniors to ask for help and providing strategies such as observing conversations and code huddles can improve their learning and problem-solving abilities.

Deep dives

Background and Introduction

In this podcast episode, the hosts introduce Mike Monroe, co-founder of Obelisk, a Rails consultancy. They discuss Mike's background in programming and his experience with various technologies such as .NET, Java, PHP, and eventually Rails. They also touch on the shift in coding schools and boot camps towards teaching more JavaScript and how it influenced their decision to hire a junior developer.

Introduction

3min

Hiring and Mentoring Junior Developers

8min

Mentoring and Leveling Up Junior Developers

4min

Supporting Junior Developers

4min

Startups, Downtime, and Time Management for Junior Devs

4min

The Importance of Continuous Learning and Overcoming Challenges

7min

On this episode of Ruby for All, Andrew and Julie welcome Mike Munroe, Co-founder of OBLSK, a Rails consultancy, who’s here today to discuss their Junior Developer Apprentice Program. Today, we’ll learn all the details about the program, the importance of having a mentor and a framework in place to guide the Junior developer’s progress, and how Mike believes with the right mentorship, a Junior developer can become independent and self-sustaining within a year. There’s a conversation on how remote mentorship differs from in-person mentorship, and some strategies to help Juniors ask for help. He also talks about the importance of not stressing about time, encourages the exploration of learning, and why Mike believes for Juniors to be successful there has to be passion. Press download the hear much more!

[00:01:01] Mike tells us what OBLSK is and his background in programming.

[00:03:10] If you want to hear about the Apprentice Program, Mike gives us all the details and how he believes it’s important to invest in Junior developers and support them.

[00:08:56] We hear how Mike thinks that a Junior developer, with the right mentorship, can become independent and self-sustaining within a year.

[00:12:46] Julie tells us she is good about reaching put for help when she’s stuck on something but feels like many people may have a problem with reaching out, Mike shares some tactics to help Juniors ask for help, such as asking any questions at any time, even if you think it’s a “stupid question, and put code into GitHub.

[00:18:04] Andrew highlights something Mike said, and he strongly believes in, is that if a Junior has a question, invite that Junior into the room for the meeting to be a part of the team.

[00:19:01] Mike stresses the importance of leaders showing vulnerability and humility to make Juniors feel more comfortable.

[00:00:00] A great piece of advice Mike shares for Juniors is not letting time be a stressor, also taking breaks and pursue tangents to keep the process fun and positive.

[00:24:14] We learn why Mike believes for Juniors to be successful there has to be passion.

[00:26:46] With the current Junior Apprentice who’s gone through the program, Julie wonders how the program has been for him, and Mike explains some of the struggles with Git and Front-End Technologies.

[00:29:43] Find out where you can follow Mike on the web.

Panelists:

Andrew Mason

Julie J.

Guest:

Mike Munroe

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