Security/Mentorship/Apply

Mentee Application Process

If someone wishes to apply for a mentorship, they should submit an application via email to yboily@mozilla.com with the subject "Mentorship Application - <Your name>".

This application should include the following information:

• Name
• Location (including time zone)
• Overview
  • The first paragraph should explain who you are, and why you are pursuing the mentorship. This isn't a job application, and doesn't require that level of detail, but it will help us understand if the mentorship program is the correct engagement path to work with our team; if we think there is a better opportunity for you, we will help guide you in that direction.
  • The second paragraph should include details about your assessment of the project, and the skills you bring to the table, and the biggest challenges you perceive in being able to accomplish it.
  • The third paragraph should include an estimation of your time commitment and a rationale of how you will meet that in relation to your other obligations. We want you to succeed in your mentorship, and if you under estimate the amount of time it will take, or overestimate the time you can commit, it won't help anyone!
  • Other information that might be relevant should be included

Before you Apply

Each of the mentors for these projects is happy to answer questions about the project, either via email or IRC. You can reach out to the mentors directly via the email in the [mentor=email@address.com] whiteboard tag in the project descriptions, or you can come onto IRC (Instructions Here) and ask about the projects on #security.

Before applying please make an effort to understand the scope and ensure that you are confident you can meet the requirements; if you are not able to meet the requirements for a specific project, discussing things with the team on #security can help you to identify other ways to contribute, and we do encourage prospective mentees to propose projects as well!

Next Steps

After your application is received, the mentor for the project you have applied for will be in touch to interview you to gauge your ability to meet the requirements and ensure that you understand the scope and responsibilities associated with the mentorship program. Note that if you don't meet the requirements, that is not necessarily a concern, it just means that we need to evaluate that best way to proceed to help you contribute to the project!

Example

Name: John Doe Location: British Columbia, Canada, PST

Overview I am an undergrad student at UBC in Vancouver, and I am studying software development in their computer science programming. I have very little experience writing software, but have been learning Python and Java, and would like to contribute to a project in the Security Mentorship Program.

I would like to work on "Graph Visualization of Web Applications", the mentorship described in bug 811874. Based on a quick discussion with the mentor on IRC, I think that I can develop the skills required, and complete the project in the time frame specified by the project, but will need help understanding how ZAP works, and may need additional help with understand the types of visualizations required.

I currently work part time, and attend class full time, but I expect that I can spend 15 hours a week working on this project. I expect that this project would take me approximately 6 months to complete, accounting for reduced time over exam periods.