Software Development Training Template and Checklist
A ready-to-run onboarding program for new developers and the rollout checklist to go with it. Get every joiner shipping safely, then see who is actually up to speed.
Reviewed by Pradeep Arora, Chief Strategy Officer
- A seven-module developer onboarding program, with audience and coverage for each
- An onboarding rollout checklist mapped to your stack and ways of working
- A team proficiency matrix that shows where skills are thin
- A first-90-days curriculum calendar from setup to first shipped change
What is inside
- A seven-module developer onboarding program, covering SDLC, version control, code quality, review, testing, CI and collaboration, with audience and coverage for each.
- A 10-point onboarding rollout checklist you can map to your own stack and ways of working, and mark off as each joiner progresses.
- A team proficiency matrix that scores each team and shows where engineering skills are thin.
- A first-90-days curriculum calendar so onboarding runs to a plan rather than by memory.
Who it is for
Anyone who has to plan what people learn, and answer for whether it landed.
- L&D and training teams
- People managers and team leads
- Heads of function and department
- HR business partners
- Compliance and risk teams
- Onboarding and enablement teams
- Operations and delivery leads
- COOs and HR directors
How to use this template in 4 steps
- Pick your format. Download the PDF to share, the Word file to edit, or the Excel file to work in live. All three are free.
- Make it yours. Adapt the sections, fields and wording to your team, roles and process so it fits how you actually work.
- Put it to work. Fill it in, circulate it to stakeholders for sign-off, or roll it out to your team.
- Track and improve. Review it on a set cadence and refine it as your goals, roles and priorities change.
What is inside
- A seven-module developer onboarding program, covering SDLC, version control, code quality, review, testing, CI and collaboration, with audience and coverage for each.
- A 10-point onboarding rollout checklist you can map to your own stack and ways of working, and mark off as each joiner progresses.
- A team proficiency matrix that scores each team and shows where engineering skills are thin.
- A first-90-days curriculum calendar so onboarding runs to a plan rather than by memory.
Adapt the modules and checklist to your own stack, tooling and ways of working. This is a starting structure to build from, not a substitute for your team's engineering standards.
The training program template
Seven modules that take a new developer from a working environment to a shipped change. Run the full set for new and associate developers, then use the deeper modules as they take on more.
| Module | Audience | Duration | What it must cover |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. SDLC and how we ship | All new devs | 30 min | The stages from idea to production, where reviews and tests gate a change, and how work flows on this team. |
| 2. Version control with Git | All new devs | 40 min | Branching, clear commits, pull requests and resolving conflicts, using the team's branching model. |
| 3. Code quality and standards | All new devs | 30 min | Style and linting, readable naming, small functions, and the standards this codebase holds. |
| 4. Code review | All new devs | 30 min | Giving and receiving reviews well, what to look for, and how to keep feedback specific and kind. |
| 5. Testing fundamentals | All new devs | 45 min | Unit and integration tests, what to test, and writing a test alongside a real change. |
| 6. Continuous integration basics | All new devs | 30 min | How the pipeline builds and tests a change, reading a failed run, and fixing a red build. |
| 7. Collaboration and ways of working | All new devs | 25 min | Standups, documentation, pairing, and asking for help early rather than getting stuck. |
Delivering the modules and a short knowledge check through an LMS gives you dated completion per developer and per team, so you can see who has covered testing and CI before you assign the work that needs it.
The rollout checklist
Ten steps to get a new developer from access to first shipped change. Tick items to track your own progress, it stays in this browser. The download has the same list with an owner column.
- Accounts, repo access and tooling provisionedSetupDay one
- Local environment builds and tests run greenSetupDay one
- Branching model and commit conventions walked throughVersion controlWeek one
- First branch and pull request opened with a mentorVersion controlWeek one
- Code standards and linting explained and appliedCode qualityWeek one
- Code review guidelines read and a review practisedCode reviewWeek two
- A test written for a real changeTestingWeek two
- A change taken through the CI pipelineCIWeek two
- Proficiency tracked by team, not just by hireGovernanceOngoing
- First change shipped and reviewed at 90 daysDeliveryBy day 90
The most common gap is the last two. A team can look fully staffed while several developers have never taken a change through the pipeline alone, and that is where delivery quietly slows.
Team proficiency at a glance
The checklist tells you where one developer is. This matrix tells you which teams are thin. Score each team on the five skills that most affect how safely they ship. In Excel the readiness and gaps calculate as you type.
| Team | Devs | Version control | Code review | Testing | CI / build | SDLC flow | Ready |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Platform | 14 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 100% |
| Web app | 10 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 80% |
| Mobile | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 40% |
| Data | 8 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 70% |
| New grads | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 40% |
| Coverage at required | 60% | 20% | 40% | 40% | 40% | 66% |
Mobile is the exposure here: no testing coverage and thin on CI, which is exactly where a change ships to users you cannot roll back as easily.
The first-90-days curriculum calendar
| Timing | Action | Owner |
|---|---|---|
| Day one | Environment building, repo access, SDLC overview. | Manager and buddy |
| Week one | Version control, first pull request, code standards. | Onboarding buddy |
| Week two | Code review, testing and a change through CI. | Tech lead |
| Day 30 | Review the checklist, fill gaps, set first real tickets. | Manager |
| Day 60 | Deeper modules for the team's stack, pairing on harder work. | Tech lead |
| Day 90 | Ship a change end to end, review proficiency by team. | Manager and L&D |
How to run it
- Get the environment building on day one
A working local build and access to the repos is the first unblock, not week two.
- Teach the workflow, not just the language
How branches, pull requests, reviews and pipelines work here matters more than syntax.
- Ship something tiny early
A small, real change through the full flow beats a week of reading. Pair a mentor on the first one.
- Make code review the teacher
Reviews are where standards get transmitted. Set expectations for both giving and receiving them.
- Track proficiency by team
Roll it up per team so a squad that is thin on testing or CI is visible before it slows delivery.
- Review progress at 30, 60 and 90 days
Check the checklist and matrix at each mark and adjust the plan for that developer.
Frontline teams reach 45 percent-plus completion on Disprz when training is delivered in short, mobile modules, the format this program is built for.
Common mistakes this pack prevents
- Handing a new developer a repo link and hoping they figure out how the team ships.
- Teaching the language but not the workflow, so a first pull request takes a week of corrections.
- Leaving testing and CI as things people pick up later, until a change breaks in production.
- Judging onboarding by headcount instead of who can actually take a change through the pipeline.
- No record of what each developer has covered, so work gets assigned to people who are not ready for it.
Which format should you use?
| Format | Best for | What is inside | Editable | Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sharing and print | The full template, formatted to print or circulate | No | 55 KB | |
| Word | Editing the wording | Every section as editable text you can adapt | Yes | 86 KB |
| Excel | Filling it in live | The grid and fields set up as a working spreadsheet | Yes | 65 KB |
Questions people ask
Who is this software development training template for?
Is it tied to a specific language or stack?
How long should developer onboarding take?
Does the Excel tracker work in Google Sheets?
Do I have to fill the form three times?
Onboarding only works if developers actually finish it. That is the part we run.
Bring your engineering leads to a 30-minute working session. We will show how Disprz delivers developer onboarding in short modules and rolls proficiency up by team, so your next capacity plan is based on who can actually ship.