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How to be an effective job shadow host? (Software Engineering specific) [closed]
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So I just found out that I'll be hosting a high school student who is interested in software tomorrow. I take this stuff rather seriously - I remember being that age, being told to suddenly make decisions that will literally shape the rest of my life without any experience to judge those decisions, unsure of who's advice I should take or disregard. I had a hard time and I went into it knowing exactly what I wanted to do.
Anyway, they will be here for the first half of the day. I'm assuming the questionnaire they bring will take all of 10 minutes, and I'm struggling a little bit on how to show them what I do without going "ok just sit here and watch while I type colorful text". I'd really like to involve them or keep them engaged, but for a job like software engineering I cant exactly hand them the wheel if they (understandably) have no idea what they are looking at.
Does anyone have any tips on keeping them engaged? Activities? Something "fun" without seeming lame? Is just thoroughly explaining what I'm working on enough?
My background: BS. in Computer Engineering. A little over 4 years in the field as a software engineer. I'm at my second company and only started here a couple of months ago - I've had a couple of bug fixes on our main code base (which is rather big), and started and completed a small project.
About tomorrow: My schedule is open (no meetings or anything). Also I most likely wont be able to involve anyone else on the team. Our next major release is literally happening today or tomorrow so I'd rather not take away anyone's time.
software-industry job-search career-development internship education
asked May 23 '16 at 17:33
plast1k
1184
closed as off-topic by gnat, Chris E, Dawny33, Jim G., Masked Man♦ May 25 '16 at 14:13
This question appears to be off-topic. The users who voted to close gave this specific reason:
- "Questions asking for advice on what to do are not practical answerable questions (e.g. "what job should I take?", or "what skills should I learn?"). Questions should get answers explaining why and how to make a decision, not advice on what to do. For more information, click here." – gnat, Chris E, Dawny33, Masked Man
suggest improvements |Â
up vote
2
down vote
favorite
So I just found out that I'll be hosting a high school student who is interested in software tomorrow. I take this stuff rather seriously - I remember being that age, being told to suddenly make decisions that will literally shape the rest of my life without any experience to judge those decisions, unsure of who's advice I should take or disregard. I had a hard time and I went into it knowing exactly what I wanted to do.
Anyway, they will be here for the first half of the day. I'm assuming the questionnaire they bring will take all of 10 minutes, and I'm struggling a little bit on how to show them what I do without going "ok just sit here and watch while I type colorful text". I'd really like to involve them or keep them engaged, but for a job like software engineering I cant exactly hand them the wheel if they (understandably) have no idea what they are looking at.
Does anyone have any tips on keeping them engaged? Activities? Something "fun" without seeming lame? Is just thoroughly explaining what I'm working on enough?
My background: BS. in Computer Engineering. A little over 4 years in the field as a software engineer. I'm at my second company and only started here a couple of months ago - I've had a couple of bug fixes on our main code base (which is rather big), and started and completed a small project.
About tomorrow: My schedule is open (no meetings or anything). Also I most likely wont be able to involve anyone else on the team. Our next major release is literally happening today or tomorrow so I'd rather not take away anyone's time.
software-industry job-search career-development internship education
asked May 23 '16 at 17:33
plast1k
1184
closed as off-topic by gnat, Chris E, Dawny33, Jim G., Masked Man♦ May 25 '16 at 14:13
This question appears to be off-topic. The users who voted to close gave this specific reason:
- "Questions asking for advice on what to do are not practical answerable questions (e.g. "what job should I take?", or "what skills should I learn?"). Questions should get answers explaining why and how to make a decision, not advice on what to do. For more information, click here." – gnat, Chris E, Dawny33, Masked Man
This seems fairly on-topic to me....
– Matt Krause
Jun 19 at 19:09
suggest improvements |Â
up vote
2
down vote
favorite
up vote
2
down vote
favorite
So I just found out that I'll be hosting a high school student who is interested in software tomorrow. I take this stuff rather seriously - I remember being that age, being told to suddenly make decisions that will literally shape the rest of my life without any experience to judge those decisions, unsure of who's advice I should take or disregard. I had a hard time and I went into it knowing exactly what I wanted to do.
Anyway, they will be here for the first half of the day. I'm assuming the questionnaire they bring will take all of 10 minutes, and I'm struggling a little bit on how to show them what I do without going "ok just sit here and watch while I type colorful text". I'd really like to involve them or keep them engaged, but for a job like software engineering I cant exactly hand them the wheel if they (understandably) have no idea what they are looking at.
Does anyone have any tips on keeping them engaged? Activities? Something "fun" without seeming lame? Is just thoroughly explaining what I'm working on enough?
My background: BS. in Computer Engineering. A little over 4 years in the field as a software engineer. I'm at my second company and only started here a couple of months ago - I've had a couple of bug fixes on our main code base (which is rather big), and started and completed a small project.
About tomorrow: My schedule is open (no meetings or anything). Also I most likely wont be able to involve anyone else on the team. Our next major release is literally happening today or tomorrow so I'd rather not take away anyone's time.
software-industry job-search career-development internship education
asked May 23 '16 at 17:33
plast1k
1184
So I just found out that I'll be hosting a high school student who is interested in software tomorrow. I take this stuff rather seriously - I remember being that age, being told to suddenly make decisions that will literally shape the rest of my life without any experience to judge those decisions, unsure of who's advice I should take or disregard. I had a hard time and I went into it knowing exactly what I wanted to do.
Anyway, they will be here for the first half of the day. I'm assuming the questionnaire they bring will take all of 10 minutes, and I'm struggling a little bit on how to show them what I do without going "ok just sit here and watch while I type colorful text". I'd really like to involve them or keep them engaged, but for a job like software engineering I cant exactly hand them the wheel if they (understandably) have no idea what they are looking at.
Does anyone have any tips on keeping them engaged? Activities? Something "fun" without seeming lame? Is just thoroughly explaining what I'm working on enough?
My background: BS. in Computer Engineering. A little over 4 years in the field as a software engineer. I'm at my second company and only started here a couple of months ago - I've had a couple of bug fixes on our main code base (which is rather big), and started and completed a small project.
About tomorrow: My schedule is open (no meetings or anything). Also I most likely wont be able to involve anyone else on the team. Our next major release is literally happening today or tomorrow so I'd rather not take away anyone's time.
software-industry job-search career-development internship education
asked May 23 '16 at 17:33
plast1k
1184
asked May 23 '16 at 17:33
plast1k
1184
asked May 23 '16 at 17:33
plast1k
1184
asked May 23 '16 at 17:33
plast1k
1184
1184
closed as off-topic by gnat, Chris E, Dawny33, Jim G., Masked Man♦ May 25 '16 at 14:13
This question appears to be off-topic. The users who voted to close gave this specific reason:
- "Questions asking for advice on what to do are not practical answerable questions (e.g. "what job should I take?", or "what skills should I learn?"). Questions should get answers explaining why and how to make a decision, not advice on what to do. For more information, click here." – gnat, Chris E, Dawny33, Masked Man
closed as off-topic by gnat, Chris E, Dawny33, Jim G., Masked Man♦ May 25 '16 at 14:13
This question appears to be off-topic. The users who voted to close gave this specific reason:
- "Questions asking for advice on what to do are not practical answerable questions (e.g. "what job should I take?", or "what skills should I learn?"). Questions should get answers explaining why and how to make a decision, not advice on what to do. For more information, click here." – gnat, Chris E, Dawny33, Masked Man
This seems fairly on-topic to me....
– Matt Krause
Jun 19 at 19:09
suggest improvements |Â
This seems fairly on-topic to me....
– Matt Krause
Jun 19 at 19:09
This seems fairly on-topic to me....
– Matt Krause
Jun 19 at 19:09
This seems fairly on-topic to me....
– Matt Krause
Jun 19 at 19:09
suggest improvements |Â
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
up vote
4
down vote
accepted
Give them a short explanation of the company, industry, products and your roll.
Of course you can let them touch code, just not something on production.
Walk them through, creating a source control branch so they can't hurt anything (Assuming you have no intention of merging this.). Tell them about the benefits of source control.
Talk to them about the code. A programmer spends a lot of time reading this stuff. See what they are able to decipher. Pick something simple and let them make a change. Compile it (They may not work with compiled languages.). Show them some unit tests. Whatever you do.
Don't forget communications, meetings, documents, bug-tracking, etc.
The skill level could be just about anywhere. Expose them to as much as you can. Recommend resources. Tell them to create a StackOverflow account. Get on GitHub. I think the goal should be not just for this person to have a perfect understanding of what a programmer does, but leave with some direction and tools to continue to learn about programming. It's not up to you to show them how hard it is (it is hard - right now) or to go out of your way to show them the "fun" side of the job nor are you there to "weed out" poor candidates.
Think more about being a facilitator.
2
Don't surprised if the kid wants you to explain pointers.
– user8365
May 23 '16 at 17:54
Could be worse, instead of pointers you could get a troublemaker who's been reading programming blogs/redit for a while asking you to translate "a monad is a monoid in the category of endofunctors" into English.
– Dan Neely
May 23 '16 at 22:35
2
One sentence stood out that helped me - "Expose them to as much as you can". I was initially afraid of overwhelming them with information, but I took your advice and I think it went really well.
– plast1k
May 24 '16 at 16:17
suggest improvements |Â
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
4
down vote
accepted
Give them a short explanation of the company, industry, products and your roll.
Of course you can let them touch code, just not something on production.
Walk them through, creating a source control branch so they can't hurt anything (Assuming you have no intention of merging this.). Tell them about the benefits of source control.
Talk to them about the code. A programmer spends a lot of time reading this stuff. See what they are able to decipher. Pick something simple and let them make a change. Compile it (They may not work with compiled languages.). Show them some unit tests. Whatever you do.
Don't forget communications, meetings, documents, bug-tracking, etc.
The skill level could be just about anywhere. Expose them to as much as you can. Recommend resources. Tell them to create a StackOverflow account. Get on GitHub. I think the goal should be not just for this person to have a perfect understanding of what a programmer does, but leave with some direction and tools to continue to learn about programming. It's not up to you to show them how hard it is (it is hard - right now) or to go out of your way to show them the "fun" side of the job nor are you there to "weed out" poor candidates.
Think more about being a facilitator.
2
Don't surprised if the kid wants you to explain pointers.
– user8365
May 23 '16 at 17:54
Could be worse, instead of pointers you could get a troublemaker who's been reading programming blogs/redit for a while asking you to translate "a monad is a monoid in the category of endofunctors" into English.
– Dan Neely
May 23 '16 at 22:35
2
One sentence stood out that helped me - "Expose them to as much as you can". I was initially afraid of overwhelming them with information, but I took your advice and I think it went really well.
– plast1k
May 24 '16 at 16:17
suggest improvements |Â
up vote
4
down vote
accepted
Give them a short explanation of the company, industry, products and your roll.
Of course you can let them touch code, just not something on production.
Walk them through, creating a source control branch so they can't hurt anything (Assuming you have no intention of merging this.). Tell them about the benefits of source control.
Talk to them about the code. A programmer spends a lot of time reading this stuff. See what they are able to decipher. Pick something simple and let them make a change. Compile it (They may not work with compiled languages.). Show them some unit tests. Whatever you do.
Don't forget communications, meetings, documents, bug-tracking, etc.
The skill level could be just about anywhere. Expose them to as much as you can. Recommend resources. Tell them to create a StackOverflow account. Get on GitHub. I think the goal should be not just for this person to have a perfect understanding of what a programmer does, but leave with some direction and tools to continue to learn about programming. It's not up to you to show them how hard it is (it is hard - right now) or to go out of your way to show them the "fun" side of the job nor are you there to "weed out" poor candidates.
Think more about being a facilitator.
2
Don't surprised if the kid wants you to explain pointers.
– user8365
May 23 '16 at 17:54
Could be worse, instead of pointers you could get a troublemaker who's been reading programming blogs/redit for a while asking you to translate "a monad is a monoid in the category of endofunctors" into English.
– Dan Neely
May 23 '16 at 22:35
2
One sentence stood out that helped me - "Expose them to as much as you can". I was initially afraid of overwhelming them with information, but I took your advice and I think it went really well.
– plast1k
May 24 '16 at 16:17
suggest improvements |Â
up vote
4
down vote
accepted
up vote
4
down vote
accepted
Give them a short explanation of the company, industry, products and your roll.
Of course you can let them touch code, just not something on production.
Walk them through, creating a source control branch so they can't hurt anything (Assuming you have no intention of merging this.). Tell them about the benefits of source control.
Talk to them about the code. A programmer spends a lot of time reading this stuff. See what they are able to decipher. Pick something simple and let them make a change. Compile it (They may not work with compiled languages.). Show them some unit tests. Whatever you do.
Don't forget communications, meetings, documents, bug-tracking, etc.
The skill level could be just about anywhere. Expose them to as much as you can. Recommend resources. Tell them to create a StackOverflow account. Get on GitHub. I think the goal should be not just for this person to have a perfect understanding of what a programmer does, but leave with some direction and tools to continue to learn about programming. It's not up to you to show them how hard it is (it is hard - right now) or to go out of your way to show them the "fun" side of the job nor are you there to "weed out" poor candidates.
Think more about being a facilitator.
Give them a short explanation of the company, industry, products and your roll.
Of course you can let them touch code, just not something on production.
Walk them through, creating a source control branch so they can't hurt anything (Assuming you have no intention of merging this.). Tell them about the benefits of source control.
Talk to them about the code. A programmer spends a lot of time reading this stuff. See what they are able to decipher. Pick something simple and let them make a change. Compile it (They may not work with compiled languages.). Show them some unit tests. Whatever you do.
Don't forget communications, meetings, documents, bug-tracking, etc.
The skill level could be just about anywhere. Expose them to as much as you can. Recommend resources. Tell them to create a StackOverflow account. Get on GitHub. I think the goal should be not just for this person to have a perfect understanding of what a programmer does, but leave with some direction and tools to continue to learn about programming. It's not up to you to show them how hard it is (it is hard - right now) or to go out of your way to show them the "fun" side of the job nor are you there to "weed out" poor candidates.
Think more about being a facilitator.
answered May 23 '16 at 17:53
user8365
2
Don't surprised if the kid wants you to explain pointers.
– user8365
May 23 '16 at 17:54
Could be worse, instead of pointers you could get a troublemaker who's been reading programming blogs/redit for a while asking you to translate "a monad is a monoid in the category of endofunctors" into English.
– Dan Neely
May 23 '16 at 22:35
2
One sentence stood out that helped me - "Expose them to as much as you can". I was initially afraid of overwhelming them with information, but I took your advice and I think it went really well.
– plast1k
May 24 '16 at 16:17
suggest improvements |Â
2
Don't surprised if the kid wants you to explain pointers.
– user8365
May 23 '16 at 17:54
Could be worse, instead of pointers you could get a troublemaker who's been reading programming blogs/redit for a while asking you to translate "a monad is a monoid in the category of endofunctors" into English.
– Dan Neely
May 23 '16 at 22:35
2
One sentence stood out that helped me - "Expose them to as much as you can". I was initially afraid of overwhelming them with information, but I took your advice and I think it went really well.
– plast1k
May 24 '16 at 16:17
2
2
Don't surprised if the kid wants you to explain pointers.
– user8365
May 23 '16 at 17:54
Don't surprised if the kid wants you to explain pointers.
– user8365
May 23 '16 at 17:54
Could be worse, instead of pointers you could get a troublemaker who's been reading programming blogs/redit for a while asking you to translate "a monad is a monoid in the category of endofunctors" into English.
– Dan Neely
May 23 '16 at 22:35
Could be worse, instead of pointers you could get a troublemaker who's been reading programming blogs/redit for a while asking you to translate "a monad is a monoid in the category of endofunctors" into English.
– Dan Neely
May 23 '16 at 22:35
2
2
One sentence stood out that helped me - "Expose them to as much as you can". I was initially afraid of overwhelming them with information, but I took your advice and I think it went really well.
– plast1k
May 24 '16 at 16:17
One sentence stood out that helped me - "Expose them to as much as you can". I was initially afraid of overwhelming them with information, but I took your advice and I think it went really well.
– plast1k
May 24 '16 at 16:17
suggest improvements |Â
This seems fairly on-topic to me....
– Matt Krause
Jun 19 at 19:09