Absolute truths I unlearned as junior developer (2019)

Post by jseban » Mon, Jun 06, 2022, 10:52 AM UTC

pojzon wrote: post #71

dzikimarian wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's exactly how we define senior engineer at my company. There's a lot of people able to produce code - even really complex and sophisticated. But you'll waste a lot of time if you're working without proper context and well organized team. From the other hand - you can't establish good context and organize team well without knowledge of what it takes to put requirements into code - therefore most efficient way is…

Its all fine and dandy, but expect ppl will be willing to do this kind of work if you pay them few salaries worth of money. If you want senior developer that will work as an architect, team lead, product manager etc. (S)He better make 400k per year or more.

Post by ChrisMarshallNY » Mon, Jun 06, 2022, 10:56 AM UTC

brunooliv wrote: post #121

ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #117

> That’s why mentors are so important, and the team you work with is worth so much more than a couple bucks in your paycheck. Don’t accept a junior position where you’ll be working alone, if you can help it! And don’t accept your first role (or, honestly, any role) based on salary alone. The team is where the real value is. Couldn't agree more. Of course, with today's attitudes towards us olds, and the average term o…

It's still baffling to me how short avg tenure for SWE is, in general. I feel that after a year, maybe, is when I finally start getting the lay of the land, meet some people, start understanding more of the domain and can start causing impact worthy of my paycheck. I'm now at 3.3 years at my current gig and I'm feeling like I have superpowers, if that makes sense. I think it takes time to be in a position to really d…

Post by jseban » Mon, Jun 06, 2022, 10:57 AM UTC

BlargMcLarg wrote: post #46

lifeisstillgood wrote: post #45

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Thank you. Agreed completely I see software as a form of literacy, and it both amuses and saddens me to hear things like "I used to write code, but since I moved to management I have stopped" We don't hear phrases like "I used to read and write English, but since I moved to management I have stopped" It seems sad to note that this "move to management" is now also becoming the "move to senior engineering". This indica…

I'd argue more people severely overestimate the need of communication quantity and management roles/responsibilities have inflated everything as a result. Worse, people who want to primarily talk are going to advocate for others to talk more. Regardless, whoever brings up what GP does is frequently bombarded with the old "communication important" or "soft skills matter" spiel in an attempt to validate the explosion o…

Post by jseban » Mon, Jun 06, 2022, 11:05 AM UTC

rocqua wrote: post #63

kqr wrote: post #61

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It is better to have a functional organisation where people float in and out of roles defined by the expectations of others and everyone is capable of judging basic business tradeoffs, yes. That, in my experience, makes people happier. They get to focus on important problems, help people they know, and develop their well-roundedness as human beings. I think you might be underestimating the amount of overhead that is…

That sounds incredibly amazing. Utopian. But I doubt it is possible even if all humans involved are incredible. You still need coordination.

Post by sime2009 » Mon, Jun 06, 2022, 11:07 AM UTC

mytailorisrich wrote: post #111

dzikimarian wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's exactly how we define senior engineer at my company. There's a lot of people able to produce code - even really complex and sophisticated. But you'll waste a lot of time if you're working without proper context and well organized team. From the other hand - you can't establish good context and organize team well without knowledge of what it takes to put requirements into code - therefore most efficient way is…

In general a "senior engineer" is simply a dev. with about 5+ years of experience so that they are no longer junior and no longer need hand holding. There's usually no, or very little, project management, lead work. At least that has been my experience everywhere I worked in the last 20 years...