Does anyone have any suggestions on how to mentor a junior programmer ? If you have mentored someone did you follow any process or was it quite informal ?
If you've been mentored in the past what kind of things did you find most helpful ?
Try to set aside between 30-60 minutes a day to review their code together. If you can't do this, then try to get together to review their code whenever they make a code commit, unless it was very basic. Have them explain why they chose the approach they took in lieu of others. A process like this helps to establish a great relationship, as well as really stimulate the student to think on their own and be able to defend their decisions. Not only does the student end up with someone approachable whom they can trust, but you'll notice an improvement in their quality of code and logic almost immediately.
Edit: Also, If you are unable to commit this much time to co-review with your junior, then you probably shouldn't be mentoring them and instead see if anyone else has a schedule that would allow it. The whole point of mentoring is to actively aid in the professional development of the student, and they're not going to learn much if proper attention and guidance is not given to them.