Humblebrag masquerading as self-reflection.
I think that's rather unkind. From my perspective: it looks like a coming of age ... blinking into adulthood sort of voyage of discovery.
Nicely said.
I caught the car
41–50 of 65 posts
Re: I caught the car
#42Do we have thoughts on how important "senior"/"staff" is vs bullet points on resumes and the years of service?
Role is a combination of title + company.
Head of Eng at 50 person startup (with 25 engineers) might be Manager 2 at FAANG.
So I mostly ignore the title and look at the work history and YOE.
Re: I caught the car
#43> I started my first software job out of college in July of 2023. In January 2026, two and a half years later, I secured my second promotion, earning the title of Senior Software Engineer. > certainly there are hard lessons that I have yet to learn in my career - but my company does not hand that title out like candy > had (and still have) an excellent mentor he had just been promoted to Senior SE. He was two years o…
I remember discovering a long time ago there were lots of VPs at yahoo.
Re: I caught the car
#44> I started my first software job out of college in July of 2023. In January 2026, two and a half years later, I secured my second promotion, earning the title of Senior Software Engineer. > certainly there are hard lessons that I have yet to learn in my career - but my company does not hand that title out like candy > had (and still have) an excellent mentor he had just been promoted to Senior SE. He was two years o…
Ha! It's funny I didn't notice that juxtaposition when I was writing it.
Understandable take. One counterpoint I would offer (with no proof, so take it or leave it) is that what I mostly see is engineers get passed up for promos that I feel they deserve. I think a large part of that is cutbacks - they haven't done layoffs, but around the time I started, they started cutting benefits, cutting RSUs, and my manager literally told me "due to budget constraints they are going to scrutinize promos very heavily going forward."
But! I don't work at a FAANG or an AI firm or anywhere with an extreme performance culture either. So regardless of YOE, if you're skilled, motivated, and a little lucky, you can really shine...
Re: I caught the car
#45I hit principal pretty early on in my career. I keep a detailed work history for anyone interested in what that journey is like: https://www.tyleo.com/professional-work-history It's both hustle and luck. One reason I left Microsoft was because I wasn't on track there. The organization was good but also top heavy so there wasn't room for growth. When I joined Rec Room the tech I built really clicked and the company sc…
Thanks for sharing. Really impressive journey, congrats and nicely done.
I touched on it a little bit in my post but yeah I can not overstate the role of luck, both "internal luck" (do I have a good manager) and "external luck" (did I choose the right offer out of college).
I mean sure, pat myself on the back for doing well in my intern interview, doing well in the internship and getting the return offer, doing well when I returned after school, etc... but I was damn lucky that recruiter plucked my resume out of the stack and put it on the "send a coding screen" pile when I was still in school. So yeah, the way I view it is that you have to be ready to take advantage when the luck breaks your way.
Re: I caught the car
#46When I meet fellow devs, I ask what projects they've shipped. Roles are near-meaningless across companies and convey 0 information about what their work involves in my experience. I appreciate that OP learned something about the job through this article.
I agree, it feels like roles help the most by getting you through the recruiter and in front of a hiring manager. Which is unfortunate.
Re: I caught the car
#47Humblebrag masquerading as self-reflection.
Eh, kinda. But there was enough self-deprecation there that it doesn't leave a bad taste in my mouth, and I consider this a genuine reflection. > Why did I need validation from my org chart? > Pretty quickly realized I was being kind of a bitch. > I have a bad case of Why Not Me syndrome. These cut deeper than faux modesty and are clearly insecurities. It's the rebelling of a sensible superego against an id hungry fo…
Thanks for the charitable read. Yeah, it's not like the part of my personality I'm lamenting has just gone away ;) I did have a hard time writing this post because I'm not under the delusion that what I achieved is truly grand or worth posting on HN about. It was more meant to be a reflection on a mistake I made: setting a bad goal and then fixating on it.
But yes, I feel a small tinge in my brain whenever I'm introduced as a "senior engineer". I'll know I've truly made it when that finally goes away.
Re: I caught the car
#48Humblebrag masquerading as self-reflection.
Oh man. That means I'm _so_ obsessed with my new title that I've gone meta and found a sneaky, disingenuous way to brag about it on HN. Thanks for pointing that out. I must have a serious personality disorder. I should probably see a shrink
Re: I caught the car
#49Who cares about titles? It's a really bad signal when a software developer cares about their title. All that matters is are you good at the work.
I think there are pragmatic reasons to care that extend beyond vanity. If I want Staff-level pay, responsibilities, and organizational influence I need to make it to Senior first.
Perhaps it's a bad signal if an engineer cares _only_ about their title though.
Re: I caught the car
#50Who cares about titles? It's a really bad signal when a software developer cares about their title. All that matters is are you good at the work.
Junior programmers are the idiot foil of all anecdotes on HN in the last three years. Only juniors do that; everything went fine until the junior...; anyway, the junior sent me a eight thousand diff of obvious slop; so now I got my first gray hairs, thanks Jane Junior; juniors writing naive, clearly quadratic code.[1] Naturally these are the least skilled of your colleagues so that part is a given. But almost all ane…
Agreed, juniors get a bad rap.
Something that complicates the problem is that not all juniors are the same.
Some juniors really just need to be shown the ropes and learn a few things and they can start contributing at mid-level. And then after a little bit of doing that they can start having Senior-level impact.
Some juniors take a little longer and need a little more help and that's totally fine, and they don't deserve to be ripped apart by smug seniors who forget they used to not know anything either.
And some juniors just don't really have the sauce and never really gravitate above mid-level, regardless of where their title ends up. Feel for these folks but they at times can be frustrating to work with.
But yes, to reiterate, in any case, the junior snark is hella annoying.