Question: when do you no longer feel like a junior? Is that measured based on years, experience, or confidence?
@rothecoder no years, but experience and confidence are definitely 2 good factors. it's not a strict line for me, but a slow process of getting the right skills
@rothecoder 2 things I’ve felt like can help decipher it: - are you able to mentor new hires/early career team members? - are you able to apply knowledge from your career/work experience?
@rothecoder I go through cycles of feeling like a junior I'm building something new with Vue for the first time and I feel like a newbie at the moment. The more I use it, the less I feel like a newbie. I think I'll feel like I'm experienced in it, once I finish and launch the website.
@rothecoder I'll let you know when it happens. It's been a few decades already, so I'm still hoping ...
@rothecoder Seeing the extensive requirements for a junior on job descriptions - I still feel like a junior.
@rothecoder how much can you help others vs how much help do you need from others? not the only metric but a big factor!
@rothecoder when you have failed 10000 times and you will hit a peak and you will feel after i got this that is when you reboot and do all over again.. to be honest junior and senior all labels and all that is meh.. just fail a lot, be scared but don’t stop keep going..
@rothecoder Experience and confidence, especially when you feel that you solved every problem you had in the past, that will be scattered sometimes but you will solve it again and turn even stronger 💪
@rothecoder I think years of experience can be an indicator. But I think more so is your ability to take features to completion without any serious help from anyone else on a consistent basis. Especially with existing technologies you know
@rothecoder The more knowledge you gain, the more you learn how much you don't know. We are all juniors in life, probably for our whole lives
@rothecoder To be more specific. Senior vs Junior is not just years. It's when you bring actionable insight into what and why something should be done not just how and not just doing it.
@rothecoder When you say "CEO, while I hear you what you are saying, that is a sub-optimal course of action. In my experience, we have a much better chance of shipping if we do __________ instead." And they listen.
@rothecoder For me, it was slow acceptance kicked off by talking to students at a networking event. Realizing that I'd been in the industry for 5 years, & remembering how 5 years seemed like SO much at the start. Over the next couple years I got more comfortable seeing myself as "mid-career"
@rothecoder Imposter syndrome is real, @rothecoder.
@rothecoder I started getting messaged on LinkedIn for senior roles while I was still in the mindset of a junior. I humoured one of them, being honest that I wasn’t actively looking and the recruiter compared my skills both technical and soft to the job spec and I realised my worth.
@rothecoder You always go back to feeling like a newby on a new project. Take note of how quickly you become comfortable with something new: the more experienced, the fastest you do this. But it still varies depending on the context, team, and org.
@rothecoder For me, it was when I could confidently plan large features end-to-end including testing.
@rothecoder You are a senior when they start giving you the jobs that nobody knows how to do, including you.
@rothecoder When you can teach what you learn you're no longer a junior
@rothecoder When I was able to look at a problem, and start piecing together what was needed to solve it. (Of course, then actually hook up the various integrations.) Now, what makes you feel like a “senior” engineer? Knowing why you’ve picked one option over another, and when to switch.
@rothecoder When you feel productive removing code that wasn't needed.
@rothecoder It’s a spectrum. You’ll find yourself mentoring one minute and seeking guidance the next. Experience definitely plays a role, but I think we are prone to fitting it into a small tech box. Once you’re comfortable with knowing that you don’t have all the answers, you’re on the way.
@rothecoder I think it's the conference and responsibility. I have seen experienced devs who many times don't behave like seniors while some juniors show traits which you would like to see in seniors
@rothecoder For me it was when people started coming to me with questions and problems more often than I went to others