Habr Career: IT Mentoring from Industry Professionals

The IT job market is constantly shifting, with one month seeing a high demand for pythonists and the next for mobile developers, layoff waves being followed by a hiring freeze and a new set of layoffs, recent graduates competing even more fiercely for entry-level positions, and human resources departments vying for the services of experienced workers. 

We realised we needed each other's support and recalled that IT has a cool tool in the form of mentoring, which can be more effective than formal education in some situations. We piloted it last year by inviting a panel of specialists and setting up informational meetings between people seeking and those able to offer assistance. The need became clear after analysing the demand and the outcome.

Because of this need, we decided to create the Habr Experts service, which provides a meeting place for IT pros willing to share their knowledge and expertise with those eager to learn from them. We reveal our initial ideas for the project.

If you're a newbie or just want to better grasp specific challenges, you can study with a mentor through the Habr Experts programme. This includes seasoned IT specialists, HR professionals, and recruiters.

Inquiring into the mind of an expert, what sorts of things might one ask?

Anyone, in general, can work on improving their hard and soft talents, evaluating a portfolio, and practising for test interviews. The most important thing is to track down the best possible specialist to answer your query.

Professionals are able to aid you.

Begin your professional life with this information about the job market and advice on breaking into the IT field.

Create a personalised growth plan and work on your soft and hard skill sets.

Get a new job with our support during the application and interview processes;

Climb the corporate ladder: provide a career assessment, assist with branding, and design an expansion strategy.

Take care of an assignment or job at work;

Gain the self-assurance of a seasoned expert by solving issues like imposter syndrome and fatigue, and by fostering connections within the team.

Learn how to build a career in a different country by crafting a CV tailored to that country's job market and providing relevant information about your work experience.

Although these are the broad categories in which a mentor may help you, keep in mind that each expert is unique; on their pages, you'll notice specific requests and themes with which you can come to them; all you have to do is choose the one.

The Importance of Specialization and Why You Should Pursue It

You don't need twenty years of expertise or a special certification to be a mentor or a teacher. The first step in helping people is learning about the problems they're facing.

The coolness of mentoring

You build and improve your professional reputation, or personal brand. You will not only demonstrate and strengthen your credentials as a mentor, but you can also highlight this accomplishment during the interview.

Knowledge sharing is awesome. You gain experience as a leader while helping others, learning, and being inspired by their requests and problems. They say that becoming a teacher is a great way to boost your own confidence, and that's definitely true.

Earnings supplement. Earn extra money by teaching, once you've found some students and established your own schedule.

Tutorial on Achieving Mastery

On order to submit your expertise, navigate to your profile and click the "I am an expert" link in the sidebar.

You can also access the survey straight from the "Experts" section by clicking the "Fill out the questionnaire" button on the banner there

What we really need from you, beyond just completing out the survey, is for you to:

have a profile picture,

Specified the amount you're hoping to earn; doing so will demonstrate your worth and position you as a pay market specialist.

have named at least one employer from their past

Make sure your profile is at least 75% complete.

Congratulations, you have earned the title of "Habr Expert" if you have completed the questionnaire and selected the "Show in the list of experts" option. The "expert" badge will appear next to your name, your profile will be viewable to other experts, and they will be able to contact you for guidance.

Applications and how to use them

The "Past meetings" section of your account is where you can review the applications of specialists.

Advice on Scheduling an Appointment

A request for a consultation can be made with any expert on Habr Career. To choose a consultant and set up a consultation, visit the "Experts" page and use the various filters on the right menu to narrow down the list of consultants to one who meets your needs.

Click the "Contact" button on the expert's card or profile if you want to speak with him. After that, you can explain your situation, get answers to your questions, and set up a consultation with an expert by talking to them in a separate window.

How much does the meeting cost, and how is it going?

Clicking the "Contact" button next to the desired expert will take you to a conversation where a consultation can be scheduled. Think about whether a face-to-face or virtual meeting would work better for you, and schedule it at a time that's convenient for both of you. In most cases, consultants and clients will talk on the phone for an hour at a time. The expert will list his or her hourly rate on the expert card.

Payment

Since we just launched the service, Habr Career does not yet facilitate payment; instead, you and the expert determine the timing and method of payment for the session. When making a payment, remember that you are taking full responsibility.

To determine if their expertise matches the specialist's requirement, many experts offer free initial consultations.

Professional Opinion

Professionals can leave ratings for experts they've worked with, and these ratings contribute to an expert's total rating on the service. If you visit an expert's profile or the "Experts" page (linked over on the right), you'll see a star rating system.

After contacting the expert, scheduling a meeting, consulting with him, and receiving confirmation from the expert on his own account, the specialist will be able to rate him.

Discussions open to the public

We'll be holding a number of free public consultations as part of the rollout of the new service in order to help those who are interested in finding out more about the IT mentoring format. These consultations will show mentees and mentors what a typical meeting might look like, as well as how to put together a request for an expert and how to train a specialist.

Please add your contact information below if you would like to participate as either an expert or a student.