Networking is the single most effective way to land a job, yet it is often a major source of struggle for many students. As a way to jump-start the networking process, we provide every student with a mentor. At Rithm, our mentors are mostly alumni who are now employed as software engineers at a wide range of companies from small startups to big well-known tech companies such as Dropbox, Pinterest, Twitter, and more. Mentors offer help and advice throughout the program and into the job search. Due to our small class sizes, we know our mentors and students quite well and are able to match students with alumni who compliment their personality and/or career goals.
Mentors are a valuable addition to the support system at Rithm. While we are able to provide instruction, advice, and one-on-one meetings throughout the entire process, we haven’t completed the bootcamp ourselves. A mentor has been in the same situation as the students and experienced what it is like to graduate from a bootcamp and complete a job search.
(A remote Mentor Program happy hour).
After the technical fundamentals have been learned, about halfway through the program, we introduce the mentor program by hosting a happy hour where all of the mentors introduce themselves to the students and other mentors. Shortly after, each student meets with their mentor one-on-one. We suggest that our students and mentors meet over the phone or on Zoom twice a month and maintain regular contact over email or Slack.
We have received a lot of positive feedback about the program from both the mentors and the mentees:
“My mentor has been super helpful and supportive! She is always there whenever I need her advice or guidance or if I just have a general question.” -Alaa, Mentee
“He wrote a very extensive document on advice on his job search. A lot of it overlapped with the outcomes lectures, but it was still very helpful.” -Justin, Mentee
“Rithm gave me so much, I am grateful for the opportunity to be able to give back. I enjoyed talking to my mentee, which also gave me a unique context for reflecting on my experience going through the program and my journey to becoming a developer.” -Jason, Mentor
We hope this mentorship program is just one of the many new relationships students will form along their professional journeys!
