Developer onboarding readiness

1. Catalog personas (backend, frontend, data, platform, contractors) and list required tools, repos, and permissions for each.
2. Build automated setup script or dev container; verify it configures editors, SDKs, environment variables, and sample data without manual steps.
3. Integrate onboarding service with identity systems to auto-provision groups, secrets, and SaaS accounts; define rollback for departures.
4. Publish quickstart documentation, architecture overview, glossary, and team contacts in the developer portal; ensure search works.
5. Implement onboarding tracker capturing completion time, blockers, and buddy assignments; integrate with HRIS if possible.
6. Schedule office hours for first two weeks and pair each new hire with an onboarding buddy or mentor.
7. Gather feedback after week 1 and week 4 via surveys or interviews; log improvement actions with owners and deadlines.
8. Review and refresh onboarding assets quarterly or whenever major platform changes ship.

Prerequisites

• Platform engineering bandwidth to own automation and documentation.
• Agreement with security and people ops on access policies and compliance requirements.

Pitfalls

• Allowing manual exceptions that drift from the documented golden path.
• Forgetting contractor and remote onboarding variations.
• Neglecting to communicate upcoming platform changes that impact onboarding.

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