Zuehlke / machines-code-people

Open Source Book about practicaly proven concepts, best practices, cultural philosophies and great ideas that we use in our daily work in projects at Zühlke
Other
37 stars 41 forks source link

Article: What Does It Means to Be A Senior Engineer? #104

Open igr opened 6 years ago

igr commented 6 years ago

A 'senior' label on some position is nothing related to ages of the person. For that reason, I avoid that naming and use the term mature instead. What does it mean?

Read it here - translated by Google.

igr commented 6 years ago

What Does It Means to Be A Senior Engineer?

Very often a person is entitled as a "Senior software developer". Such naming is very unprecise: what does it mean to be a "senior" in the first place?

Does one become a senior after N years of professional work? Is a senior someone who just gets old(er)? Does one become a senior sooner if he/she learns everything about a software framework? Is a senior developer one who is capable of leading a project? Or the title comes only with the changing the job and getting a new position?

A more appropriate term I like to use is: mature.

Being a mature software developer includes the necessary programming experience, of course. But a mature engineer must also have non-technical virtues. Such as calmness to balance between the pragmatic plan and the urgency of the project. Understanding the need to take the risk to improve and evolve the project. Insisting on communication and constant exchange of information. Broadcasting the culture of collaboration and continuous improvement. Being aware of the product values.

This is the path we should follow, the path of maturity. To stop thinking only about the software coding and to accept - and embrace - the higher understanding of the development process and the values of the outcomes.