Becoming a supervisor

For every year we look for caring people to supervise 1-2 teams through the Summer of Code. Read below to see if it fits your profile.

What it takes to be a good supervisor

One of the most important things a supervisor does is provide moral support to the students! That's why a good supervisor should be friendly, open, and organised.

What does a supervisor do?

A supervisor is the "glue" between the Rails Girls Summer of Code orga-team and the full team (students, coaches, and project mentors) they are assigned. This is why we require them to regularly communicate with coaches and students; we suggest a short hanout once a week, to make sure everything is going smoothly. They should check on the students and their progress often, this includes checking eg. the daily log and making sure that things are going forward, as well as lending an ear to the students in those frustrating moments as well as helping them to find their happy place.

The supervisor will be the team's contact person for all organizational aspects and should also make sure that all non-coding to-dos required by the Summer of Code - such as a blog post for the RGSoC blog or participation in the conference raffle - are done. Don't worry - we'll give you a checklist, deadlines, and will nudge you gently if you forget about some of them.

But I can't code! Can I be a supervisor anyway?

Of course! Supervisors aren't required to have technical skills or answer code-related questions - that's what the coaches and our help desk are mainly for. It's useful if you have a bit of knowledge when it comes to some of the tools we use, like GitHub, as you might have to check on commits or pull requests.

How much time does being a supervisor take?

Being a supervisor means committing for the 3 months of the Rails Girls Summer of Code (July-September); you should be able to put aside on average half an hour a day for 3 to 5 days a week.

How can I apply?

The best way is to just drop us a line at summer-of-code@railsgirls.com telling us you want to help out. We can't wait!