Adi, 32, had been working in the retail industry for the past ten years when he decided he wanted a change. ‘You can only do one thing for so long,’ he says. Last year, he decided to change career and enroll on a coding bootcamp. ‘I decided to do a Full Stack Web Developer bootcamp,’ he explains, ‘because I wanted to be involved in web development, back- or front-end – I didn’t mind. I thought it made sense to learn all aspects of web development.’
Adi has already been offered work at a software development company. When asked what worked best for him about his bootcamp, he mentions the flexibility (he had to continue working while upskilling as a web developer) and the mentorship. He says: ‘Coding mentors just help so much. Because someone is always around to answer your questions, you don’t get stuck that often. I found my mentorship experience both reassuring and motivating. You know you’re not going to flounder around for ages feeling frustrated.’
Research bears out Adi’s view. Chris Myers, a startup founder and CEO of a financial management solutions company, says on Forbes that if he could give young professionals one piece of advice it would be to find a mentor. ‘I firmly believe that mentorship is the best path to career success, hands down,’ he says.
Coding mentors are particularly useful. Here are some advantages:
- Coding best practice – a coding mentor helps you avoid common stumbling blocks and learn best industry practices. Of course you could learn on your own, but think how much quicker you’ll pick up things with an expert.
- Constructive feedback – when you’re learning anything, from writing a novel to learning to play the piano, feedback is essential in getting you out of a rut or in understanding how you could do something differently. Constructive feedback is specific, timely, understanding and positive.
- Individual attention – many of us have sat in massive lectures or classes where we quickly lose track of what the lecturer or teacher is saying. Or we’ve tried to pick up coding via videos online. Mentoring is different. It’s 1:1 or personlised feedback.
Masood Gool, Lead Mentor at HyperionDev, puts it like this: ‘Learning to program can be a daunting task. Sometimes you may feel you’ve been thrown in the deep end. Coding mentors are there to smooth this process, provide individuliased feedback and guide you along the path to success. This allows you to customise your learning path to achieve your goals.’
At HyperionDev for every coding assignment you submit, you’ll get tailored feedback from specialist coding mentors. You’ll then iterate or rework your solution to improve the structure, efficiency, readability and correctness of your code. This kind of mentoring enables you to master more advanced concepts faster.
HyperionDev offers three 6-month part-time Online Bootcamps in Web, Mobile and Software Development. Book a free trial now!
