---
title: "Technical Mentorship Reimagined: Time-bound and No Awkward Asks Necessary"
description: "Shopify’s Engineering Mentorship Program was created to give developers a structured way to pursue technical and leadership growth alongside the company’s existing just-in-time collaboration. Survey findings indicated that developers wanted to learn from colleagues but struggled to make dedicated time, motivating a recurring program designed around those constraints. Each six-week cycle uses voluntary sign-up, automated matching based on expertise, reporting relationships, and job level, weekly one-hour meetings, goal setting, Slack support, and an optional guidebook. The time-bound format lets participants try a mentorship relationship without an open-ended commitment, while mentors also practice teaching and leadership; by 2020, more than 300 developers had participated as mentees and more than 200 as mentors, 98% of survey respondents said they would recommend it, and demand exceeded available mentor capacity."
---

# Technical Mentorship Reimagined: Time-bound and No Awkward Asks Necessary

[Shopify](https://yomu.fyi/company/shopify) · 2023-10-18 · Feb 10, 2021

**Type:** Explainer

## Summary

Shopify’s Engineering Mentorship Program was created to give developers a structured way to pursue technical and leadership growth alongside the company’s existing just-in-time collaboration. Survey findings indicated that developers wanted to learn from colleagues but struggled to make dedicated time, motivating a recurring program designed around those constraints. Each six-week cycle uses voluntary sign-up, automated matching based on expertise, reporting relationships, and job level, weekly one-hour meetings, goal setting, Slack support, and an optional guidebook. The time-bound format lets participants try a mentorship relationship without an open-ended commitment, while mentors also practice teaching and leadership; by 2020, more than 300 developers had participated as mentees and more than 200 as mentors, 98% of survey respondents said they would recommend it, and demand exceeded available mentor capacity.

## Context

Shopify developers wanted to learn from colleagues and develop technical and leadership skills, but found it difficult to dedicate time to learning. Potential mentees also faced uncertainty about finding a mentor, asking for help, and ending an unsuitable relationship.

## Approach / What changed

The program runs quarterly, six-week cycles with voluntary enrollment as a mentor, mentee, or both. An automated script matches participants using expertise, reporting relationships, and job level; pairs meet for about an hour weekly, set evolving goals, and receive support through Slack, a kickoff, feedback surveys, and an optional guidebook.

## Takeaways

- Six-week cycles and voluntary participation reduce the perceived risk of trying mentorship while setting a minimum commitment of about one hour per week.
- Automated matching avoids pairing mentees with their current lead or the same lead, aligns expertise with interests, and intentionally does not use department or geographic location.
- By 2020, the program had involved 300+ mentees and 200+ mentors; 98% of survey respondents would recommend it, but limited mentor capacity meant turning away potential mentees.

**Tags:** [Developer Experience](https://yomu.fyi/topic/developer-experience), [Mentorship](https://yomu.fyi/topic/mentorship)

- Source: [Shopify](https://shopify.engineering/technical-mentorship-reimagined)
- Source URL: https://shopify.engineering/technical-mentorship-reimagined
- Ingested by Yomu: 2026-08-31T01:10:25.708Z

[Read original post](https://shopify.engineering/technical-mentorship-reimagined)