I’m a senior dev with lots of industry experience, love to teach, and have been wanting to do something extra curricular in a way that helps others. Over the years I’ve volunteered to help people how to code, most recently thorough a non profit bootcamp. When I get in front of students I find it very rewarding and I get really positive response from students/mentees. However, it often feels like I’m pulling teeth to get people to reach out or follow through e.g. I might have a session where the mentee gushes about how useful it was, I mention that I’m happy to do another one in a couple of months, mentee says they would love that but then I never hear back. I’m willing to establish that initial connection/trust, but after that I need the other person to take the initiative.
I talked to a co-worker recently and she said she largely stopped mentoring because she founded it to be a waste of time. It’s disappointing because I very much enjoy it, but I need to be smart about how I use the free time I have.
I’m curious if others have found similar challenges. Do you have any tips for filtering out mentees who are less serious, or maybe just have too much going on to commit seriously?
