Weak Soft Skills: Why you are stuck at the Senior engineer level
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Weak Soft Skills: Why you are stuck at the Senior engineer level
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Re: Weak Soft Skills: Why you are stuck at the Senior engineer level
#2 I have observed that a Staff engineer has mastered these three skills: Communication, Adaptability, Challenging Situation Management
Re: Weak Soft Skills: Why you are stuck at the Senior engineer level
#3Nothing wrong with the senior engineer level. I’ve had the experience of managing 75 developers and I enjoy the fact that right now I’m “just” a Senior Software Engineer.
Re: Weak Soft Skills: Why you are stuck at the Senior engineer level
#4I have observed that a Staff engineer has mastered these three skills: Communication, Adaptability, Challenging Situation Management Normalize being just a really productive IC. Not everyone wants to spend their energy on these facets of a job; some folks just want to build awesome stuff -- and that should be fine.
these aren't exclusive. ultimately our ability to function as engineers has to be in the broader context of the organization. to build thing that are designed to solve customer or organizational problems. to do so in a way that slots in with existing systems and cultures. the function sympathetically as part of broader team.
but _that_ should be enough. more than enough, and in any organization larger than 50 people its just not.
Re: Weak Soft Skills: Why you are stuck at the Senior engineer level
#5I have observed that a Staff engineer has mastered these three skills: Communication, Adaptability, Challenging Situation Management Normalize being just a really productive IC. Not everyone wants to spend their energy on these facets of a job; some folks just want to build awesome stuff -- and that should be fine.
It is - it's just that a really productive IC is a Senior Software Engineer. That's usually considered a fine place for a persons career to plateau.
Re: Weak Soft Skills: Why you are stuck at the Senior engineer level
#6Nothing wrong with the senior engineer level. I’ve had the experience of managing 75 developers and I enjoy the fact that right now I’m “just” a Senior Software Engineer.
You don't need to manage 75 developers to be a higher-level engineer on the title/pay ladder.
Re: Weak Soft Skills: Why you are stuck at the Senior engineer level
#7I have observed that a Staff engineer has mastered these three skills: Communication, Adaptability, Challenging Situation Management Normalize being just a really productive IC. Not everyone wants to spend their energy on these facets of a job; some folks just want to build awesome stuff -- and that should be fine.
Developing these skills will always be useful, but I agree it's not always ideal to focus on them.
Re: Weak Soft Skills: Why you are stuck at the Senior engineer level
#8I have observed that a Staff engineer has mastered these three skills: Communication, Adaptability, Challenging Situation Management Normalize being just a really productive IC. Not everyone wants to spend their energy on these facets of a job; some folks just want to build awesome stuff -- and that should be fine.
these aren't exclusive. ultimately our ability to function as engineers has to be in the broader context of the organization. to build thing that are designed to solve customer or organizational problems. to do so in a way that slots in with existing systems and cultures. the function sympathetically as part of broader team. but _that_ should be enough. more than enough, and in any organization larger than 50 people…
Sure, but the premise of the article:
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This is the classic "Maker vs Manager" dilemma that we've created with regards to technical career path ascension. A staff ENGINEER is still an engineer; reserve that role for your strongest ICs. Make them an engineering MANAGER or DIRECTOR or VP if their role is to manage people, situations, and communications.
I postulate that one of the many reasons organizations eventually fail to innovate is that they bias towards manager instead of maker. Once that happens, you've taken some of your strongest ICs and given them only one option to "level up": "Go manage people".
Re: Weak Soft Skills: Why you are stuck at the Senior engineer level
#9From the article: "Watch how your audience reacts. You have the benefit of being able to see how people in the audience react. See if they're engaged or falling asleep, and tailor your delivery."
Tips like these are becoming increasingly less applicable in the advent of remote only jobs.
Re: Weak Soft Skills: Why you are stuck at the Senior engineer level
#10Why should it be necessary or thought of as important to do that?
A great and experienced programmer is gold and what we need more of. Brownnosing ladder climbers are a dime a dozen.
What companies need to do is to ensure that a person who is who is great at their job and loves the role are compensated for the great job they do. and the value they bring to the company.
If necessary, create senior programmer (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12) if the company feels it essential to change title to get more money.
Up or out is just dumb.