What Truly Makes a Senior Developer
It’s difficult to compare talent from different-sized companies, but certain things are key
In the world of software, just because someone has been a developer for a long time, it doesn’t mean they have become excellent at it. In my experience, what differentiates senior developers and engineers from junior and mid-level ones is how they use skillsets and approach problems. While this varies among types of organizations — the skills used by a senior developer in a small startup aren’t the same as those used by one in a massive company — there are a few clear qualities that all experienced software folks with a “senior” title have.
The idea that we can categorize developers and engineers into junior vs. mid-level vs. senior suggests there is some way to measure. The mistake here is pretending there is a single scale of measuring talent when there isn’t. Different organizations, problem sets, and domains suggest very different skills. But there are four key abilities to use in measuring seniority:
- Being a sole programmer
- Mentoring and growing other programmers
- Navigating social and political issues inside an organization
- Matching technical solutions to business needs
