Oracle has an intern programme. While the programmes differ around the world because of the way relationships with educational establishments work and the number of interns that can be supported within a particular part of the organization, there is a common goal—transitioning (under)graduates from a world of theory into productive junior staff (in the cases I work with, that’s developers).

This blog summarizes the steps I have taken with my mentees and elaborates on how I personally approach the mentor role. It serves as a checklist for myself so I don’t have to recreate it as we embark on a new journey.

Interns typically have several lines of reporting – the intern programme leadership, an engineering manager, and a technical mentor. The engineering manager and technical mentor is typically a senior engineer or architect with battle-hardened experience who is able to explain the broader picture and why things are done in particular ways. The mentor and engineering manager roles can often overlap. But the two points of contact exist, as that is how we run our product teams.

Each of the following headings covers the different phases of an intern engagement.

Introduction conversation

When starting the intern programme, and as with any mid-sized organisation, there is a standard onboarding process, which will cover all the details such as corporate policy, and possibly mandatory development skills. While this is happening, I’ll reach out to briefly introduce myself, and tell the intern to let me know when they think they’ll have completed that initial work. We use that as the point at which we have an initial, wide-ranging conversation covering …

• expectations, goals, and rules of engagement
  • I have a couple of simple rules, which I ask my team and interns to work by:
    • Don’t say you understand when you don’t – as a mentor, your learning is as much my ability to communicate as it is your attention
    • No question is stupid
      • Your questions help me understand you better, pitch my communication better, appreciate what needs to be explained, and point out the best resources to help.
      • The more you ask, the more I share, which will help you find your path.
    • Mistakes are fine (and often, you can learn a lot from them), but we should own them (no deflection, or hiding – if there is a mistake or problem, let’s address it as soon as possible) and never repeat the same mistake.
• We discuss the product’s purpose, value proposition, and definition of success. How do the architecture and technologies being used contribute to the solution? This helps, particularly when some of the technologies may not be seen as cool. It also provides context for the stories the intern will pick up.

Ongoing dialogue

During the internship, we have a weekly one-to-one call. Initially, the focus is to discuss progress, but as things progress, I encourage the intern to use the session to discuss anything they wish. From technologies to what things they enjoy. How they’re progressing, what is good, what can be better. Resources available to learn from, things to try.

Importantly, I put emphasis on the fact that the interns feel part of the team, never need to wait for these weekly calls if they have concerns, questions, requests, need help, etc. We get a grip on it early before things start to go very wrong.

Tasks & backlog

While the interns may not (at least to start with) be working on a product or at least be focussed on immediate tasks, we adopt normal working processes and practices. So, we manage tasks through JIRA; development processes are the same.

• The major goals during the internship need to support a narrative for the intern’s degree defence. At the same time, they need to get a taste of the technologies being used across the product, such as the front-end presentation tier and the persistence and integration tech stack. The work needs to ultimately contribute to the product development programme.
• In the stories early on in the internship, we keep well off the critical path, which means we can take the time to learn and understand why things are the way they are without any pressure. As the internship progresses, we start to bring stories in that are linked to specific deliverable milestones.

• try and have a narrative for their degree/post-grad defence

Being part of the team

A mentor is only one part of the intern’s education journey. Ideally, learning can come from very interaction, so we need to facilitate:

• It’s important that the interns feel part of the team, so they’re included in all the stand-ups and sprint planning. The intern tasks are managed as stories, just like everyone else’s. Being part of a team will help ease the tensions that can be experienced if someone is working with someone they also know has to evaluate their progress.
• This gives the interns the chance to build relationships with others with whom they can talk and learn from those who are closer to where they are in their career journey.

Helping their Learning

From a mentor supporting technical development, when questions are asked, we take the time to not only answer the immediate question but also talk about the context and rationale. We look at where sources of information can be found – we don’t want to get into spoon feeding people, otherwise they’ll never stand up and figure things out for themselves. It is better that people seek some direction and then figure things out. Then go back and present what the right answer is. This way you embed initiative, different perspectives can be seen and life is easier if you’re told of a problem and then offered a solution.

Feedback

Feedback is important; if they’re doing well, then it reassures them to know this, and you’ll see more of what they’re like if you hire them. If there are problems, it is best to have quiet, informal one-to-one conversations. Things aren’t bad, but we all can be better. This positioning is constructive, and as a mentor, I’m there to help the intern find the way to overcome any weaknesses, or to recognize that strengths may be suited in other roles. The outcome of an internship should not be a surprise, but simply a formalized ceremony.