terrencecodes in 
Software Engineer
Networking with More Senior Devs
Greetings, all.
What advice does everyone have for networking with more senior level (principal/lead/staff) developers and upper level technical management (directors, VPs, etc.)?
There are several individuals that I've identified (both internal to my company and within the larger, public, development community) that I believe I could learn from and would appreciate their advice and guidance. However, I've also learned that networking should be a give-and-take relationship. In other words, that it should be mutually beneficial, not just me seeking to gain from the other individual.
That being said, I'm not sure how to approach these individuals. I'm not sure what I have to offer that would be of benefit to them. The best I've been able to come up with is approach it as an informal, grab a cup of coffee type of interaction.
2
1033
Sort by:
qwertyCoderSoftware Engineer
Most senior folks are fairly receptive to giving mentorship. In fact, they may even be evaluated for it at some companies by their managers.
Additionally, at larger orgs, Senior engineers and managers are often working across multiple teams to accomplish things. If they're not directly on your team, they often may not get what they want right away. You could help them by ensuring what they need gets prioritized or by doing it yourself. You'll be in their good graces after and can approach them for mentorship.
1
madscienceSoftware Engineer
Yeah, main thing is communication here. I've approached plenty of high level mentors and just explained why I was reaching out, what I was looking for, and offered to chat more about how I could potentially help them too. Some of them didn't even want anything in return, so that might surprise you too.
About
Public
Tech
Members
737,475