Latest / The Career Change Podcast with Fexingo: Switching Fields, Bootcamps, and Reskilling / How Bootcamp Grads Can Find Their First Mentor
Transcript
- Lucas: You go through a twelve-week bootcamp, you build a portfolio, you grind LeetCode, you nail the behavioral interview — and then you get the job. But six months in, you realize there is so much unspoken context that nobody taught you. Luna: Yeah, the stuff that isn't in the curriculum. How do you navigate office politics? How do you know which projects to raise your hand for? Lucas: Exactly. And the fastest way to learn that context is through a mentor. But for a bootcamp grad, finding a mentor can feel almost as hard as getting the first job. You don't have the alumni network of a four-year university. You don't have a dozen senior engineers in your immediate circle. Luna: So where do you start? I've heard people say 'just cold message people on LinkedIn,' but that feels like a recipe for getting ignored. Lucas: It can be, if you do it wrong. But let's actually break this down. First, I think it helps to clarify what we mean by mentor. Most people picture a formal arrangement — monthly one-on-ones, a structured agenda. And that exists, but it's rare. What's more common and more accessible is informal mentorship. Luna: Informal mentorship — meaning someone you can ping with a specific question, or who gives you feedback on a pull request, or who you grab coffee with once a quarter? Lucas: Exactly. It's lower stakes, but it's also more scalable. One person cannot be your everything. You actually want a personal board of directors — three to five people who each fill a different gap. One person who's great at system design. Another who's a strong communicator. Another who knows the business side. Luna: I like that framing. So you're not looking for one Yoda. You're assembling a team. Lucas: Right. And the key is to start before you need them. Don't wait until you're in crisis mode. The best time to build these relationships is when you're curious, not desperate. Luna: So let's talk about where to actually find these people. You mentioned not just cold messaging on LinkedIn. Lucas: Yeah. Let's start with the most obvious and most underused resource: your bootcamp's alumni network. Most bootcamps have a Slack or Discord with thousands of grads. Some of them are five years into their career now, they're senior engineers. They're actually very willing to help — they remember what it was like. Luna: But you have to ask in a way that's respectful of their time. Lucas: Exactly. And that brings me to the three-ask rule. It's a framework I picked up from a product manager at Stripe. The idea is that when you reach out, you never ask for a 'mentorship.' You ask for something small and specific. Luna: Okay, walk me through the three asks. Lucas: Ask one: 'Can I buy you a coffee for fifteen minutes to ask about your career path?' That's low commitment. Most people will say yes, especially if you're an alum. Ask two: after that coffee, if it goes well, you say, 'Could I send you a pull request for code review next week? I'd love your feedback on my approach.' Now you're giving them a concrete, bounded task. Luna: And ask three? Lucas: After they've helped you once or twice, you ask, 'Would you be open to a monthly thirty-minute chat for the next three months?' By then, they've already invested in you. They know you're serious. They're much more likely to say yes. Luna: That's smart. You're building the relationship gradually, not dumping the whole ask on them upfront. Lucas: Exactly. And you can use that same approach on LinkedIn, but I'd actually recommend starting with warm introductions. Look at your bootcamp's alumni list, find people who work at companies you're interested in, and ask a mutual connection — even if it's just a fellow grad — to introduce you. Luna: What about meetups or hackathons? Those feel like natural places to meet potential mentors. Lucas: Absolutely. I know a bootcamp grad named Priya who met her first mentor at a hackathon. She was stuck on a tricky API integration, and a senior developer at the next table helped her debug it. After the event, she asked if she could follow up with a question sometime. He said yes. That turned into a regular coffee chat, and eventually he referred her for a job at his company. Luna: And the key there was that she asked for help with a specific problem, not a vague 'be my mentor.' Lucas: Right. The best mentorships start with a genuine, concrete interaction. It could be a code review, a question about a stack, a discussion about a blog post they wrote. You're showing that you value their specific expertise. Luna: I think a lot of bootcamp grads also worry about imposter syndrome. They feel like they don't have anything to offer a potential mentor. Like, why would a senior engineer want to talk to them? Lucas: That's a real fear. But here's the thing: mentoring is actually rewarding for the mentor. It helps them clarify their own thinking. It gives them a sense of contribution. And most senior engineers remember being junior — they want to pay it forward. Plus, you do have something to offer: fresh perspective. You might know a newer tool or framework they haven't tried yet. Luna: That's a good point. It's a two-way street. Lucas: Let's talk about maintaining the relationship once you have it. The biggest mistake I see is that people only reach out when they need something. That's a surefire way to kill a mentoring relationship. You want to occasionally share a win — 'Hey, I used your advice on that refactor and it cut load time by twenty percent.' Or send them an article you thought they'd find interesting. Keep the connection alive outside of crisis moments. Luna: And respect their time. If they say they're busy, don't push. Maybe check back in a month. Lucas: Exactly. One more thing: if you're still in bootcamp, consider finding a peer mentor — someone who's a cohort ahead of you. They can give you very practical advice about the curriculum, job search timing, which projects to emphasize. That's often the easiest first mentoring relationship to form. Luna: And it's lower stakes. You're both learners. Lucas: And listen, if this episode has helped you think about your own approach to finding a mentor — or if you've already found one and it's made a difference — that's exactly the kind of thing that keeps us going. Honestly, if today was worth a coffee to you, you can find us at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's a small way to support the show and keep it ad-free. Luna: Yeah, we really appreciate that. And if you're not in a position to do that, no worries at all — the show stays free either way. Okay, back to mentorship. One thing I wanted to add: I think a lot of bootcamp grads overlook the possibility of having a mentor who's not in tech. Like someone in product or design or even sales. Lucas: That's a great point. A mentor from a different function can help you see the bigger picture — how your code impacts the business, how to communicate with non-technical stakeholders. That's actually a huge gap for a lot of junior engineers. Luna: So don't limit yourself to engineers. Think broadly about who can help you grow. Lucas: Exactly. Alright, let's wrap up with a quick action item. If you're listening and you don't have a mentor yet, here's one thing you can do today: go to your bootcamp's alumni Slack, find someone who's been working for two or three years, and send them a message asking for a fifteen-minute coffee chat. Use the three-ask rule. Start small. Luna: And if you already have a mentor, send them a note today saying thank you. That goes a long way.