[mattfrommars]

Do you have tips or things you did to get more effective mentor ship? My company has assigned me a mentor but I always thing I am not using it to the fullest extent.

The `only` time I speak with my mentor is when I get stuck with a bug and need help getting started. I have asked frequently on how to do better code reviews or how did she get so good at programming - she always said it takes time. To get better with the code base - it takes time.

[pavel_lishin]

Ideally, this person should be on your team, or otherwise someone you work with regularly. But asking your mentor when you run into bugs is a good start! Pairing on those helps.

I guess in terms of concrete advice:

1. Put time on a calendar to work with this person; don't just slack back and forth about some specific issue for a bit.

2. If you're looking to become a better programmer, actually pair with them - take turns driving and writing code. If she's doing the driving, it would help to hear out her rationale for what she's doing - probably even before she starts writing. If you're driving, try to do the same.

3. Ask for code reviews on as many of your pull requests as she can provide; this is going to be pretty workplace specific, and is going to depend on how much code you end up putting up for review and how much time she has. It's a good way to get async feedback.

And yeah, it takes time and practice.

[eyelidlessness]

It is true that it takes time. And to some extent just observing others’ work is a lot of the benefit of time. But if you’re looking for your mentor to be more involved and she’s not engaging that, try asking more specific questions. Like “oh this bit of code is interesting and it wouldn’t occur to me to do it that way, what was your reasoning/thought process? Where can I learn more about this approach?”

You can also find others on your team whose work you admire and ask them similar questions. Lots of people are happy to talk about their work when asked.