10 Things to Do to Accelerate Onboarding a Software Engineer To Your Team

Onboarding a software engineer is your opportunity to make a first impression—on both the engineer and their team—so it serves us to take it seriously and complete it thoroughly. It’s important to onboard them to both their work and your company culture. And while doing so, make sure they feel welcomed, clear on expectations, and comfortable hitting the ground running.

This list outlines 10 essential things to accomplish during onboarding to accelerate their productivity and build trust from day one:

1. Prep Their Workspace Early

Before they log in, make sure all tools, systems, and access are set up. No engineer should spend their first day chasing logins.

2. Explain the Bigger Picture

Don’t jump straight to code. Help them understand the product, user problems, and business goals. Context drives better decisions.

3. Assign a Dedicated Onboarding Buddy

Give them a go-to person—someone who’s available to answer questions, review code, and help them settle in faster.

4. Provide Clear, Concise Docs

Keep documentation short and useful. Link out to setup instructions, team processes, API guides, and core workflows.

5. Give a Real First Assignment

Skip the “shadowing” phase. Let them ship something small but meaningful in the first week—it builds confidence and momentum.

6. Clarify Communication Norms

Tell them how your team communicates: Slack etiquette, meeting cadences, ticket updates. Make the unspoken, spoken.

7. Walk Through the Stack Live

Pair them with a senior engineer to walk through the dev environment and deployment process. Save hours of guesswork.

8. Introduce the Whole Team

Don't just meet engineering—connect them with design, product, and QA. Relationships accelerate collaboration.

9. Set Expectations Early

Share a 30-60-90 day plan with specific milestones. Engineers want to know what success looks like—and how to get there.

10. Gather Feedback and Iterate

Ask them what’s working and what’s missing. Great onboarding is a two-way street—and it only gets better when you listen.

At fjorge, we belive smart onboarding sets the foundation for long-term success and rapid delivery. We build custom software and digital solutions every day, we know that well-onboarded engineers become high-performing teams.

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