How was your batch of newbies?

[Eugenia Gabrielov]

I think our recruit class has been very similar to the past. Every year, a few students fall into this category:

A. "The New Awesome"
These kids try hard, work hard, and still know how to have fun. Even though not all of them have advanced technical skills, they truly make an effort to learn. We got quite a few of these across the board.

B. "Work Hard, Play Harder"
I love these kids too, but they will grow up later. However, everyone was like that once, and I think it's something that changes with more experience. I think their fun-loving attitude is important, however, it's best for them to be given tasks when crunch time comes so that they don't spend the entire meeting unfocused.

C. "I really don't do much...because nobody taught me"
These kids are few and far between, but we had one this year. I think it was a combination of low personnel able to train and the kid not being there often, but still. If you have one, try to find out what interests them, because you can still get them excited for competition and they may be very valuable later on.

D. "I really don't do much...because I really don't care"
We didn't have any of these, but for those teams that do...these students also aren't without hope! Try pairing them up with an older team member to do scouting, or maybe give them another task so that they can get to know people and get a better feel for the work expectation.

The moral of the story? There is always hope! Just give a chance!