Junior Team Leads (JTL) are the top learners that we have selected who have shown a willingness to dedicate a large proportion of their time to helping others. Aside from the invaluable support they offer their peers, they gain the following benefits:
A scholarship of up to 300 Eur / month (taxes will apply based on your country of residence). The exact amount depends on the amount of activities you choose to do.
The ability to practice their leadership and mentoring skills regularly.
The ability to deepen their knowledge of topics they have already learned through the teaching of others
A useful talking point to use within interviews with potential employers in the future
Even more flexible graduation timeline (you can take up to 60 total extension days freely in most cases)
Becoming a JTL
JTL’s are selected on a case by case basis, but to make it easier to know what to aim for, we have created a list of criteria for traits that indicate a good fit for becoming a JTL. However, even if you don’t fit all of them but are interested in the opportunity - please reach out to us - we will be happy to discuss your possibilities and steps to become a JTL.
If you believe that you are a good fit for the role of a JTL, contact Giedrius Zebrauskas. We will then discuss the opportunities available and work on a plan to help you become one.
If there are more suitable candidates than available JTL positions, JTLs will be rotated regularly, so that everyone meeting the criteria can have a chance to be one.
Example criteria signifying you are ready to become a JTL:
Your average rating for the last 3 projects (or 1 project if modules 5 or 6 have been completed) is ~90% or higher (this may be adjusted during the program)
You have completed or are close to completing module 1
You are a regular participant in open sessions led by existing JTLs
You have participated in the majority of stand-ups in the last month
You are actively providing reviews to others and these reviews are reasonably accurate (we will be manually checking these when you apply to become a JTL)
You have more than 5 review points available (i.e. you review other learners more than you get reviewed yourself)
You are actively helping other learners by answering questions on Discord. Other learners also have great feedback about you (being helpful in 1-1 interaction is therefore highly encouraged too).
Note: even if you do not satisfy the criteria fully, you are free to apply in case you are interested. We will be happy to consider you and in case you are not ready yet, give you pointers on how to become ready further down the program.
How long can I be a JTL for?
The minimum amount of time you can be a JTL is 1 month. Usually, our staff will hold a discussion with the JTL once a month to determine if it would be beneficial for them to continue being a JTL. The things that will be considered is whether the learner still finds the experience useful and whether it is not impacting the progression through the program negatively too much.
Responsibilities of a JTL
As a junior team lead, you are by no means required to be an expert on the topic that you will be helping with. If you are able to immediately help struggling learners with the topic, that's great. But if not, it’s equally, if not more important, that you are able to lead a struggling learner towards a way of solving their problems, helping them along the way. Once a learner has become a JTL, they will be provided with on-boarding activities and extra information that will help to prepare them for their new responsibilities.
Potential extra activities:
Leading stand-ups (Turing College staff will also attend the majority of these)
Leading retrospectives (Turing College staff will also attend these)
Leading 1-1 mentorship sessions with other learners. These sessions are used to talk about and encourage the mentee’s progress in technical and soft skill areas.
Booking at least 1 hour each workday for peer reviews.
Open sessions in Discord for helping other learners on-demand.
As the program progresses, these activities might be modified to better suit both the needs of the JTL and the learners.