Be a Part of the Mentorship Program at Prime!

Full Stack Engineering Mentorship PROGRAM OVERVIEW

Our small-group virtual mentorship program is designed to help students establish meaningful connections to other practitioners within the tech field. We aim to connect resourceful, talented, and supportive professionals (including Prime alumni!) with Prime students in order to share multiple experiences and perspectives in an inclusive community-based setting.

Participant Expectations

Program engagement asks that your mentor/mentee group meets virtually for 1-2 hours every other week for the 14-week classroom portion of our students' Prime experience. In addition, we expect both mentors and mentees to:

  • Model Prime values (include everyone, practice empathy, foster community, collaborate frequently, assume positivity)
  • Share experiences and respect diversity of perspectives
  • Seek to understand & actively listen
  • Comfortable, professional, and balanced communication 

More about these and additional tips for a positive mentorship program experience will be shared during the kick-off meeting. 

Sign up to become a Prime Mentor!

Upcoming mentorship dates

Once you have signed up to be a mentor, mark your calendars for the following dates in your mentorship program! 

Cohort                         Kickoff Meeting Dates                      Cohort Months

Gaiman                        May 12th, 2022, 5:30pm CST               May - August

Jemisin                        June 16th, 2022, 5:30pm CST              June - September

Mitchison                    July 21st, 2022, 5:30pm CST                July - October

MEETING FOCUS AREAS

The following topics are recommended for each meeting.

  • Go through introductions - name, your background, location, the company you work for, etc.
  • Talk about how everyone in the group started their journey to software development.
  • Tell us about a typical day for a developer at your company.
  • Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?
  • What has been your favorite part of being a developer (or whatever their title is)?
  • What has been the most challenging part of being a developer (or whatever their title is)?
  • Where do you find the most meaning in your work?
  • What are your professional strengths and areas of improvement? Have they changed over time?
  • What does professional development look like at your company? 
  • When did you land your first job after graduating (if Prime or bootcamp Alum)?
  • What would you say was the biggest challenge and lesson learned from your first job?
  • If you could go back in time to give yourself advice during the first three months of your first job, what would you tell yourself?
  • What incentives/perks/benefits does your workplace provide that you find particularly valuable?
  • What things do you look for in a company when you look/have looked for a job?
  • What did onboarding look like for your current role?
  • What can you tell us about your workplace culture?
  • What incentives/perks does your workplace provide that you find particularly valuable? 
  • What things do you look for in a company when you look/have looked for a job?
  • What do people on your team do for lunch every day?
  • What does this really tell you: helps you identify the social climate, workload, and work-life balance.
  • ​What would you say that your company values?
  • What type of development operations (DevOps) are utilized in your team? What does DevOps look like? Can you explain the process of agile or sprints?
  • What does onboarding training look like within the industry?
  • ​What general advice do you have on ​job searching? 
  • What does networking look like to you? What do you do? What does it mean to you?
  • What was the best piece of advice you've received on job searching/networking?
  • ​What networking opportunities have you found particularly useful? 
  • ​What has been your best strategy or approach for striking up a conversation with people at networking events/meet-ups etc/virtually?​
  • ​When looking for a job, what is your strategy for staying organized, focused, and motivated? 
  • Have any of you worked with a recruiter? If so, what have been your experiences? What are recruiters looking for?
  • ​What did the interview process look like for your current job?
  • What did you do to prepare for your interview, and what do you recommend?
  • Did you have a technical component to your interview? Can you tell us more about what that was like?
  • ​What interview questions do you recommend asking during an interview? 
  • What was the most challenging part of interviewing for you? ​What was challenging about it?
  • Who typically interviews candidates for jobs?

No specific talking points, just enjoy your last meeting! Feel free to talk about additional topics or share words of advice.

Questions?

Contact:
Christy Larsen (she/her) or Bellamy Kim (he/him)
Mentorship Program Contacts
@christy and @bellamy on Slack
christy@primeacademy.io or bellamy@primeacademy.io
(952) 222-8108
hello@primeacademy.io
301 4TH AVE S., SUITE 577
MINNEAPOLIS, MN 55415

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