MentorMatch — Our Journey to Building a Mentorship Platform
This project was carried out as part of the TechLabs “Digital Shaper Program” in Dortmund (winter term 2022/23).“MentorMatch” was awarded as the best project in the winter term 2022/23.
Introduction:
Mentorship can be an incredibly powerful tool for personal and professional growth. Unfortunately, finding a good mentor can be challenging. That’s where MentorMatch comes into play. Our team of two web developers & four data scientists, equipped with newfound technical skills, embarked on an incredible adventure to create MentorMatch, a platform that connects mentors and mentees. This web application connects mentors and mentees from all over the world, allowing people to teach and learn about any specific topic and improving their knowledge and skills along the way. In this blog post, we’ll take you on our exciting ride, from humble beginnings to the completion of our MVP. We’ll share the highs and lows, the lessons we learned, and how mentorship played a vital role in our own story.
Problem:
Traditional methods of finding a mentor can be time-consuming, reliant on personal connections, and often lack the structure and resources necessary for a successful mentorship. This can lead to mismatches and unproductive relationships, making it difficult for individuals to achieve their goals. Consequently, the idea of MentorMatch was born — a platform that would connect mentors and mentees, while supporting sustainable development goals such as quality education, by fostering a community focused on learning, growth, and inspiration.
Solution & Development:
MentorMatch is a web application designed to address the challenges of the traditional mentorship process by providing a platform for mentors and mentees to connect and plan mentoring sessions. The idea behind MentorMatch is simple: Mentors register and create a profile indicating their areas of expertise and availability. Mentees can then search for mentors in their field of interest, view their profiles and ask them to mentor them. The mentor can then accept or decline the request, and if accepted, the two can communicate via the platform and begin the mentoring process.
One of the key benefits of MentorMatch is its flexibility. Whether you’re looking for career guidance, help with a specific skill, or advice on personal development, you can find a mentor who can provide the support and guidance you need. Our sites global accessibility allows the connection of diverse mentors and mentees with a wide range of perspectives and experiences, promoting equal opportunities and thus striving to reduce inequalities.
To transform our idea into reality, we had to select a powerful technology stack that would serve as the backbone of our platform. We opted for React and Vite for the frontend, FastAPI for the backend, PostgreSQL for the database, and Docker for containerization. With these tools in hand, we embarked on our mission to develop a user-friendly platform with essential features, including:
1. A robust search function to browse available mentors.
2. A smart matching algorithm that connects mentors and mentees based on their interests and expertise.
3. An intuitive user dashboard that provides relevant information at a glance and allows users to manage their matches.
Overall, MentorMatch provides a solution that makes the mentorship process more efficient and effective, ensuring that mentors and mentees are matched precisely in order to enhance the learning process. However, as enthusiastic amateurs, we soon realized that we would encounter unexpected twists and turns.
Conclusion:
Our journey has been full of valuable lessons and the process of creating MentorMatch has shown us the true value of mentorship, as we have guided and supported each other throughout the project and have even been mentored ourselves by our great mentor Nils. If you’re still a Techie or just embarking on your tech journey, let our experience be your inspiration and motivation. Embrace challenges with open arms, collaborate with others, and never stop learning. As we look back on our adventure, we’re filled with gratitude for the support we received from TechLabs, the tech community, and each other. If you would like to know more, please visit our GitHub repository for an overview of all features and a short video tour of our platform. Also, please do not hesitate to contact one of us if you have any questions!
Github repository:
Team:
Web Development: Tim Emir & Nil Kandil
Data Science: Moritz Dahm, Enis Özel, Finn Richmann, Jannik Nahrgang
Mentor:
Nils Jannasch
Honourable mentions:
Tom Stein & Nico Kranz for helping with our docker issues.
