Plan 90 days of mentoring for a junior engineer
Creates a structured mentoring plan with goals, stretch tasks, review habits, and check-ins that help a junior engineer grow fast.
The prompt
Help me plan how to mentor a junior engineer over the next 90 days.
Their background: [EXPERIENCE, LANGUAGES, WHAT THEY'VE SHIPPED SO FAR]
Strengths I've noticed: [SPECIFIC EXAMPLES]
Growth areas: [e.g. "asks for help too late", "PRs too large", "unfamiliar with testing", "unsure in design discussions"]
Their own goals: [WHAT THEY SAID THEY WANT - or "not discussed yet"]
My time available: [e.g. "1 hour per week plus code reviews"]
Team context: [STACK, UPCOMING PROJECTS THEY COULD JOIN]
Build the plan:
1. Goals: 3 concrete, observable goals for 90 days (e.g. "ships a feature end to end with fewer than 2 review rounds"), linked to their growth areas and their own goals.
2. Work assignments: a sequence of real tasks that stretch them gradually, from well-scoped to more ambiguous, with what each one teaches.
3. Rituals: a format for weekly 1:1s, pairing sessions, and how I'll use code review as teaching (explaining the why, asking questions, letting them find the fix).
4. Specific techniques for each growth area, e.g. a "stuck for 30 minutes, then ask" rule, a PR size target, writing a short plan before coding.
5. Check-ins at 30, 60, and 90 days: what to look at and the questions to ask.
6. Pitfalls for me as a mentor: rescuing too fast, rewriting their code, giving vague feedback.
Return the plan as a week-by-week overview table plus a first-1:1 agenda to kick it off together.
Highlighted [brackets] are blanks to replace with your own details.
Fill in the blanks and use this promptMore Leadership & Management prompts
What to fill in
- EXPERIENCE, LANGUAGES, WHAT THEY'VE SHIPPED SO FAR
- SPECIFIC EXAMPLES
- WHAT THEY SAID THEY WANT - or "not discussed yet"
- e.g. "1 hour per week plus code reviews"
- STACK, UPCOMING PROJECTS THEY COULD JOIN
How this prompt is built
This prompt follows the Few-Shot structure (Few-shot prompting). A few-shot prompt includes one or more worked examples of the input and the output you want, so the model can copy the pattern instead of guessing it.
Related prompts
- Build a board skills matrix and recruit new board membersA board composition analysis that shows skill, network, and lived-experience gaps, plus a recruitment and orientation plan.
- Explain a pay or promotion decision to a disappointed employeePrepares an honest, specific explanation of a pay or promotion outcome with a clear path forward and talking points.
- Map stakeholders and plan how to influence themWho matters, what they care about, and how to engage each one.
- Assess my team's maturity and plan coachingEvaluates how your team works today and where to focus coaching.