1. Layoffs and Job Security
Senior developers are not immune to layoffs, which are often arbitrary; the only real security is the ability to pass technical interviews and secure job offers.
Hear it at 0:00 →Engineering video
2:41 · 22 March 2024
7 Hard Truths About Being A Senior Developer
Chapters 5 sections
Key concepts in this video:
2. Technical Interviews for Seniors
Companies will rigorously test your seniority, requiring you to go through the same intensive interview process as other candidates.
Hear it at 0:22 →3. Salary Negotiation
As a senior developer demanding a higher salary, you will still face negotiation from companies rather than being given things for free.
Hear it at 0:34 →4. Maintaining Skills Over Time
Seniority is not permanent and requires dedicating time to continuously improve skills to avoid being downgraded to a mid-level developer by the market.
Hear it at 0:44 →5. Varying Company Titles
A senior title at one company may not translate to another, but what matters is whether the broader market considers you senior overall.
Hear it at 1:07 →6. Gaining Respect Through Influence
Junior developers will challenge seniors in technical discussions and code reviews, meaning the best seniors use knowledge-based influence rather than appealing to titles.
Hear it at 1:32 →7. Managing Questioning and Stakeholders
CTOs and product managers will question your expertise, estimates, and technical solutions, requiring you to handle hard stakeholders by showing the underlying complexity.
Hear it at 1:54 →Transcript
seven hide truths of being a senior developer. Number one, being a senior developer does not make you immune to layoffs. There have been dozens of people getting laid off, many of those people had decades of experience. Layoffs are many times arbitrary. The only real security you will have is your ability to pass technical interviews and get offers in case something happens. Point number two, technical interviews are still going to be high.
When you go to a company and you claim to have that seniority, they will try to test you on that. You still have to go many times to the same interview process like everyone goes through. Point number three, senior developers still have to negotiate. Nobody will give you things for free, the more senior you are, the bigger the salary you demand, the more they will try to negotiate you. Point number four, you are not a senior developer forever.
Part of being a senior and getting to senior means that you put a small percentage of your time to keep improving your skills. Sadly, a lot of developers don't do this, and they get this negative surprise when they get to the market, and people tell them, hey, actually, for us, you are not a senior, you are a mid-level developer. Nothing stays with you forever. You will have to fight to maintain it, and you will have to put the work and keep improving yourself.
Point number five, senior developer for one company doesn't mean senior developer for another company. And that's okay, I would rather be a normal software engineer at Google than a tech lead at some startup nobody knows about. Don't be surprised when you interview for other companies if they try to give you another title, what you should care about is the market overall. Like, you know, from 100 companies that I talked to, do 80% of them consider me senior?
Then that's enough. Point number six, junior developers won't automatically respect you. They will try to challenge you in technical discussions, and they will try to challenge you in code reviews. The best senior developers out there, they don't appeal to their titles, they don't appeal to their power, but they use their influence. The best kind of influence, it's knowledge. And that's why as a senior developer, you should put time into understanding the why behind what you do.
And finally, number seven, everybody will question your expertise from time to time. so a CTO will question your estimates. Your product manager also will question the technical solutions you come with. When you get to senior, sometimes you can be pushed into a political hell where people will attack you. The most important thing is that you really look at the issue at hand and show them the complexity that you're dealing with.
This is what senior developers do very, very well and this is managing hard stakeholders and technical leadership. Okay, this was it. By now, you should understand that senior developer is not paradise, you don't get anything for free, but it is definitely worth it. Because yes, even if the challenges of your job increase as you become more and more senior, your ability to deal with it will increase even further if you put the work.
This was it for today. I'll see you in the next one.