Company doesn't assign mentors. How did you actually find one who'd invest in you?
Small startup, everyone's slammed, there's no formal mentorship. I know "find a mentor" is the standard advice but nobody tells you the mechanics when no one has time.
Did you just start asking a specific senior to pair regularly? Find someone outside your company? I don't want to be a burden but I feel like I'm leveling up slower without someone to bounce things off. What actually worked — inside or outside work?
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AnonymousAnon Nobody 'assigned' me one either — it grew out of asking one specific senior for a code review, then another, until one of them just became the person I went to. Don't ask 'will you be my mentor,' ask small concrete questions consistently and actually act on the answers. Most seniors quietly love it when someone follows through on their feedback.
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AnonymousAnon The mistake is asking "will you be my mentor" — too big, people freeze. Instead just start pairing on small stuff with a senior whose code you like and ask specific questions; mentorship happens without anyone naming it. Outside work, the biggest one for me came from consistently engaging with one person's writing thoughtfully until we actually talked. Low pressure beats a formal ask every time.