I’m a Lead, Junior, Senior, Mid-level, Experienced Ninja

When you read a job posting, odds are that you’re going to find something keeping you from applying. Whether it be a technology listed that you’re not fluent in despite being an expert in everything else listed, a degree recommended that you don’t have, or a level that you don’t think you’re at. Something is keeping you from sending out that resume.

What defines your skill level? Sure you can go with Malcolm Gladwell’s claim that it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert, but what if you’ve worked exclusively in a technology for 5,000 hours and in that time been challenged enough to learn it inside and out? Or the converse, what if you’ve spent 15,000 hours doing the same thing over and over, but have never pushed yourself to do more nor had a reason to challenge yourself? Are you still an expert? Do your extra hours truly qualify you as a senior or a lead?

As a web developer and member of a few large developer communities, I’ve seen experts who suffer from imposter syndrome and beginners who think they know it all. I was one of those beginners a few years ago and came across as cocky and brash (sorry, companies I interviewed with previously. You were right to laugh me out of the building.)

I don’t consider myself an expert in anything, nor do I think I’m a junior, but how does one quantify a skill level? Sure, I can Google anything and have an answer, but does that make me an expert, or should I be able to recite language docs verbatim? (I’m never going to be able to tell you which PHP functions are $needle, $haystack vs. $haystack, $needle. Just accept that and move on.)

In my opinion, there are more skill levels than there are names to call them, but the most important ones are “mentor” or “mentee.” Above all else, will a person be able to bring knowledge to a team or will they be willing to learn something new. Often times, it will be both and that’s the best way it can be.

I’ve worked with some developers who may known what they were doing, but they were put in lead positions and unable to mentor new developers. This led to burnout and job hopping quickly. What was worse, is they were unable to be mentored because they were the lead so they were the expert so they knew everything. It didn’t matter if a younger or less-skilled developer had just learned about a new technology or library, the lead saw them as nothing but a rookie who couldn’t spell “CLI.”

It’s disheartening to see talent get misused and discouraged because the “leaders” have been given a title without proper vetting or because false hierarchies are in place. What makes the senior senior? Time on the job or skills or willingness to share knowledge or age? If a lead can’t then are they really a lead or do they just have the higher salary and fancy title that looks good on a resume?

So what can we do to fix this problem? Embrace each other and sing Kumbaya? Well, maybe, but maybe instead we should stop embracing titles and accept that everyone brings something different to the table. Pay based on skill, but recognize and reward potential. The young, sponge of a developer who’s trying to learn everything they can is eventually going to be a lot more valuable than the lead who already knows everything and will be the first one to tell you they do. Reward education and encourage learning. Find a way to make developers passionate about what they’re doing instead of frightening them away because of poor leadership and false titles.