Intern Training - Best Approach?

Question

We have an intern starting next week. He has a Computer Science degree but no real development experience in .NET or SQL Server. We'd like to get him to the point where he is at least semi-productive in C# and SQL Server. What suggestions might any of you have, who have gone through this, regarding how best to starting training him in C# and SQL Server? I want to make this a good experience for him and for us.

Answer 1

Some of the best experience I've had with this (from both perspectives) is a 2-fold approach.

First - Product Training. Show the new developer what the product that he'll be working on is and what it does from an end user perspective. It helps to build context to the code that is under the hood. This is one thing that is usually overlooked a lot; however, helps immensely since it also helps the new dev be more confident on testing the code he or she is working on instead of just stumbling through the code.

Second - Pair programming / Shadowing / Mentoring. Having the developer work with a more veteran person in a pair programming situation with a slight mentoring aspect. This will help gauge the developer's true skillset and provide corrective action to the team's habits early. It also provides a way for them to learn and not worry about interrupting veterans with questions and what not that way.

Once that's done, start feeding the new person smaller tasks or easier bugs and build up from there.

Answer 2

Speaking as someone who's interned for two different companies, one of the best ways to get him up to speed is to give him a small pet project with a mentor to oversee his progress. This will allow him to start becoming familiar with the technologies that he's going to be working with, while the mentor can guide him in a manner that will teach him your company's practices and procedures.

After he's gotten sufficiently familiar with C# and SQL Server, you can start having him do real development work. Start him off small with mild bug fixes, and then ramp up the difficulty until you can call him a full-fledged developer. With any luck, you won't even be calling him an intern within a month or two.

Answer 3

• Small projects to help him bed in.
• Get him to review other developers code in projects
• Point him to internal wiki (if used)
• On-line training or 2-5 day Microsoft training course (budget pending)
• Outside of the IT department, makes sure he builds up his knowledge of how the business works/functions
• Make sure he has access to some good books, as well as internet resources
• Make him feel comfortable in the working environment so that if he gets stuck he will ask someone for help. (IT Devs can be very subborn asking for help sometimes)