Mentor - Junior & Middle
You can already write code. The question now is why nobody has handed you a whole piece of work yet.
- Who it is for
- Developers with two to five years, at junior or middle level
- Format
- 3 offline group sessions, 2 offline one to one sessions
- Each session
- 60 to 90 minutes per session
Overview
What you can do afterwards
- Take a vague requirement and work out the scope, the questions to send back, and the risks on your own.
- Estimate in a way you are willing to commit to, and know what to say when you are about to be late.
- Judge the quality of your own work before anyone else judges it.
- Use AI to move faster without losing the ability to think, which is now the widest gap between two people with the same years of experience.
- Know what is missing before you reach middle or senior, and have a plan for that gap.
Included in the course
- One group session of five (90 minutes) on how a feature travels from a requirement to running in production, and where in that chain someone else is currently doing your part.
- One group session of five (90 minutes) on estimating, committing and reporting, including how to speak up when the work is slipping.
- One group session of five (90 minutes) on quality and on using AI in daily work.
- Optional: one session one to one (60 minutes) of feedback on a real piece of your work, code or a document or an estimate, whatever you bring.
- Optional: one session one to one (60 minutes) on your own path: where you stand against what the market pays middle and senior for, and what is missing.
- Mentoring for life, the same as the other two courses. When the course ends you can still message me, about an offer you are unsure of, a disagreement on a project, or just one question.
Upcoming classes
Every session runs from 20:00 to 21:00 Vietnam time. One class opens per month, the first one after the 2 September holiday. The three nearest are below.
Tuesday and Thursday every week · 20:00 – 21:00 (GMT+7)
OctoberNext
5 of 5 seats left
| Date | Day |
|---|---|
| Oct 1 | Thursday |
| Oct 6 | Tuesday |
| Oct 8 | Thursday |
The 2 one to one sessions are arranged separately, at a time that suits you.
What we cover
Session 1
Why you are still only handed tasks
See the gap between doing tasks and carrying work
- Whose hands a feature passes through, from the client's words to production.
- The steps you are letting someone else take for you without noticing, which is exactly why you are not trusted with more.
- What a manager actually looks at when deciding who gets a piece of work.
- How much initiative is enough, and where it turns into going over someone's head.
Session 2
Reading requirements and estimating
The skill that separates junior from middle most clearly
- Turn a vague requirement into a scope you can write down, with the questions that have to go back.
- Find the dependencies and risks before you start, instead of meeting them in week three.
- Estimate in a way that survives contact with reality, and why your number always gets doubled.
- Where to hold buffer, and how to talk about that buffer honestly.
Session 3
Quality and using AI
Move fast and keep the thing people are actually paying you for
- Review your own work before handing it to someone else to review.
- Give and take review feedback without letting it become personal.
- Technical debt, when to accept it and when you have to say it out loud.
- Where AI pays off, and where it is quietly eroding your own ability.
- How I use AI across a whole project process, and what I still will not hand to it.
Session 4
Feedback on a real piece of work
Theory only becomes ability when it is aimed at your own work
- You bring something real, code or a document or an estimate you are working on.
- Straight feedback, what holds up and what a senior would question immediately.
- A few habits to change, few enough that you actually change them, not a list of twenty.
Session 5
Your own path
Knowing the gap is what stops your learning from spreading thin
- What middle and senior demand in the current market, beyond years of experience.
- Where you stand against that, said plainly.
- Choosing a branch, depth in the craft or moving toward leading, and the price of each.
- Preparing for a review cycle and for the conversation about pay.
What people I have led say
Read what the people who have worked with me, and the teams I have led, say about the working environment I build. It is the clearest way to see what I can bring to you.
It was a real pleasure working with everyone. The team is both sharp and warm, I learned a lot and I am leaving with good memories. Thank you to Chien, a project manager with real fire in him, who always found the words that got a release over the deadline.
Su
Project team member
I really do want to follow you. You gave me chance after chance to learn and to push myself. I got this opportunity because of you, and I will never forget it.
Thanh
Project team member
At this company, Chien is the kindest and most decent person to me. Not only a manager, but a teacher too.
Truong
Project team member
Thank you, Chien, for giving me the chance to work here. My sincere thanks to everyone who walked alongside me and helped me through my time at the company.
Manh
Project team member
It was a piece of luck to work with everyone here, with the team leads, and with Chien as project manager. Thank you to every single person on the project.
Tung
Project team member
My sincere thanks to Chien and to the whole team for the support, and for giving me the chance to learn so many useful things.
Mon
Project team member
Being part of this group up to now has been a happiness in itself. Thank you, Chien, for all the support you gave me.
Thien
Project team member
Every company has its hard stretches. I will still give it everything I have, and give it fully.
Thinh
Project team member
Questions people ask
I have been working three years. Is this too basic for me?
It is not about how hard the technical material is. It is about whether you can carry a whole piece of work yet. Plenty of people with three years are still doing a beginner's job, only faster.
How is this different from Mentor - Leader?
This course is about your own work, autonomy and being trusted with it. Mentor - Leader is about other people's work, which is leading a team. Taking them in that order makes sense, but it is not required.
Do I need to bring real work?
For the one to one sessions, yes. Something half finished is far more useful than a hypothetical, because then the feedback lands in your actual context.
Does a group of five get diluted?
The three group sessions are the shared material everyone needs. Anything personal goes into the two one to one sessions. Hearing someone else describe their situation is half the value of the group anyway.
If I am not happy with the course, can I have my money back?
Yes, all of it, from after the first session until 30 days after the last one, the same as the other two courses.
A refund within 30 days
For 30 days from the day you sign up, if you want to stop, I return the full fee. No reason asked, no explaining needed. Message me at the email or number on the contact page and the transfer goes out within five working days.
After 30 days there is no refund, because by then most of the material has been covered. If something in your life forces you to stop, tell me and I will hold your place in a later class rather than let it go to waste.
Join this course
Tell me who you are and I will come back to you within two working days.
