HOWTO

HOWTO

Mentoring is not too dissimilar from dating. Which makes PHPMentoring a bit like a dating service. Like dating, mentoring and being mentored is a relationship between people. Both parties have expectations in what they will get out of the relationship and what they have to offer. The relationship between mentor and apprentice is not one way, the mentor will also learn much.

Finding a Mentor or Apprentice

• Add yourself to the mentor and apprentice listings, consider that it is not too dissimilar from a dating profile as you are finding someone to work together with.
• Contact information. It is difficult to find or be found if you have no method of contacting you. NOTE that this is a public site and may very well be indexed on google or bing for the general public to see.
• For potential apprentices explain what you are seeking to learn.
• For potential mentors explain what you hope to instruct others in.
• Explain what your current level of knowledge is. For potential apprentices this will establish where to start instruction for the mentor. For potential mentors this will showcase your offerings and help find an appropriate level apprentice.
• Preferred language and alternatives. Not everyone speaks a language well enough to learn or teach in. If you have preferred languages listed it will set the expectation for both parties and assist in paring people up.
• General available hours, including timezone. So you can find someone with the same availability as yourself. Along the lines of "Thursdays after 9pm UTC".
• Review the mentor and apprentice listings for someone you believe might be a suitable match and contact them.
• Be Patient. We all have some semblance of a life and might be busy.
• Be Prompt. A corollary to the previous one, try to be as prompt as possible getting back to the person that contacted you, they are busy as well and have made the effort to reach out to you.

What's Next

Once you have found a mentor or apprentice the two of you need to sit down and outline the goals of your time together. What you hope to learn/teach, how often and when you two could meet. This is outlined more fully at http://phpmentoring.org/guidelines.html