Tips on on-boarding developers

Hiring management prepare to integrate a developer into the team

This goes beyond getting the desk and laptop ready. The hiring team needs to have a game plan how integrate the new hire. Manage expectations of the team and set a responsible(s) to mentor the new hire through the first few months.

In some companies, the team's strategy and opinions are implicitly shared among the team or even worse kept secret. This is to my opinion the most destructive practice to integrate new member(s) of the team. Having a road-map available and accessible to the new hire is a good practice. It takes out the guess work and makes the team priorities transparent. A road-map can have big picture analysis, plan definitions, risks, milestones, or project kick-offs. I find significantly important events helps get a feel of the rhythm of the team. In short software development is a team effort, so make the road to becoming a team player clear.

Summary:

• Write a game plan to integrate a new hire
• Brief the team of the new hire. Explain why he/she is hired.
• Manage team expectations, define what the responsibilities are.
• Assign mentor(s) to the new hire.
• Have a road-map available as a source of reference.

New hire prepare to take on the role of <place title here>

As a new hire, every role you start is unique. And it requires professionalism. This blog post is pure gold: On being a senior engineer. I highly recommend reading it.

Points in the blog post I emphasize on in the early stages are:

• "Mature engineers seek out constructive criticism of their designs."
• "Mature engineers understand the non-technical areas of how they are perceived."
• "Mature engineers understand that not all of their projects are filled with rockstar-on-stage work."
• "Mature engineers make their trade-offs explicit when making judgments and decisions."
• "Mature engineers are empathetic."

Hope this helps you get into the right mind-frame for your next position.

Happy coding