Mentorship Application Guidelines

Application process

Applications are submitted via respective program websites, such as Google Summer of Code and LFX Mentorship.

Proposal

Jaeger mentorship projects are getting a lot of applications (up to 150 per project), therefore we require applicants to submit a proposal for the project, which allows us to find most suitable candidates. Even if a specific program’s guidelines do not require submitting a proposal, please include it in the other application documents, such as a cover letter (PDF documents are preferred over hyperlinks).

We are looking for the following topics to be covered by the proposal:

• About you
  • Why are you interested in this specific project?
  • What kind of relevant experience or skills do you have that will help you be successful?
  • (optional) What kind of open source experience you have? Please link to some notable pull requests.
  • What are your time commitments during the mentorship term?
• About the project
  • How do you understand what needs to be done in this project?
  • What kind of technical challenges do you foresee and how do you suggest to address them?
  • How do you plan to approach the project (roadmap, milestones, schedule)?

It does not mean that the longer the proposal the better. It’s about the quality and demonstrating which candidate better understands the problem and has a handle on how to solve it. You do not need to explain what Jaeger does and how. Instead, focus on the specific problem of the project, and think about the challenges and the solutions.

Level playing field

To ensure a fair and consistent evaluation process for all applicants, we cannot provide individual feedback on proposals before the submission deadline. Providing feedback to some applicants and not others would create an unequal opportunity. All proposals will receive thorough consideration by the selection committee after the deadline. We encourage all interested individuals to submit their best work.

If you need to ask specific questions / clarifications about the project, please ask them in the comments on the tracking issue, where they will be visible to all applicants.

Bootcamp

In order to understand the project better and come up with reasonable solutions, it’s always helpful to become familiar with Jaeger and its code base. We strongly recommend going through the Bootcamp.

Evaluation criteria

We do not have an exact checklist that we use for evaluation, but the following criteria have a high impact:

• Candidates have several PRs merged into Jaeger, which demonstrate:
  • their understanding of the code base,
  • their understanding of our development workflow,
  • their coding and problem solving skills.
• High quality proposal that demonstrates:
  • good understanding of the problem,
  • technical due diligence conducted,
  • viable approach to solving the problem.
• Evidence of previous high quality development tasks completed, e.g., in other open source projects.

Selection Decisions and Post-Selection Inquiries

Given the high volume of applications (often exceeding 100 per project), the selection process is highly competitive. The maintainers evaluate candidates holistically, balancing both community contributions (PRs) and the technical depth and research demonstrated in the written proposal.

If you are not selected, please keep the following guidelines in mind:

• Decisions are final: Once the chosen mentees are announced for a term, the selection is final.
• No candidate comparisons: To respect the privacy of all applicants and maintain a supportive community environment, maintainers will not discuss, debate, or compare candidates against one another under any circumstances. Public or private harassment regarding selection decisions violates the CNCF Code of Conduct.
• Limited feedback: While we deeply appreciate the hard work and enthusiasm of all applicants, the sheer volume of submissions means we generally cannot provide individualized, post-selection feedback on why a specific application was not chosen.

Not being selected is rarely a reflection of your coding abilities; it is simply a reality of the limited mentorship slots available. We highly encourage you to remain active in the Jaeger community and apply again in future cohorts.