So You Think You’re A Senior Engineer? - Issue #37

Hey friend, I am writing this to you while I’m at breakfast in Cincinnati with some amazing speakers from Momentum Conference. This podcast is with my friend Andrew Wyborski, Software Engineering Manager at Kroger. We catch up on what makes a senior engineer. This is a huge topic because I feel like everyone slaps a senior title on their career so fast.

If you want to check out the full interview…

https://open.spotify.com/episode/0VtvWxDMdxv03IiP1NKP52?si=-F1G0mhhTD68yxTbffWUAA&nd=1

What makes a Senior Engineer

What is your skillset and what are you as an Engineer

• Push yourselves

• Outline your skills

• How do you lead

• Your problem-solving skills might be at a higher level than your competition

• Keep a journal of what you have accomplished and translate it into more tangible language. “I helped our team by off boarding this process that was costing us x amount of hours to someone else that has increased our efficiency. This leads to a value-add conversation.

• Take your most important journaling notes and add them to your cover letter

• What do you do to contribute and how do you stand out from your peers

Be Open and Honest about your Competencies

• You might not know ALL the languages but you have the ability to pick up quickly

• Understand what you want to be and understand how to level up

How do you define Mid, Jr and Sr Level Engineers

• Jr is expected to deliver your piece and to be a good teammate impact yourself in your area 

• Mid-Level should be impacting your team and delivering your work but you are also ensuring that your team is delivering and setting standards

• Sr Level Engineer should be impacting your group. Setting direction and impacting all teams even though it might not be in your job description 

How do you manage title change when transitioning to another job

• Ask yourself, why are you where you are in your job

• Most times your title is tied to your years of experience

• The climate now is about how you have contributed across the company and the teams you interact with

Thank you for taking time to read this! I know there are a bajillion email newsletters so thank you for being a part of this community! If you need me, join my texting community 615-235-5650. I answer questions the fastest on that platform! 

-Taylor