How to Get from Junior to Senior Developer?
It’s true that a senior developer is someone who has mastered the art of programming through and through. Putting in your coding hours and learning as much as possible is the most straightforward approach to climbing up the career ladder. However, the most important skills that separate the junior from the senior developers have nothing to do with programming at all.
Anyone driven to move forward in their career is, more often than not, going to put their personal goals ahead of the people around them. It’s only natural. But knowing how to work as part of a team with your peers is crucial. Most college students only do a few short-term group projects and this does not adequately prepare them to work in a tight-knit team in a professional setting. Working with others builds character. Let’s bring it back to kindergarten with a friendly reminder to treat others how you’d like to be treated. Hooray. But seriously, the ability to work as part of a team is so often taken for granted that it’s worth reiterating no matter how belittling it feels to hear it. Being able to take charge when necessary or helping your peers whenever possible will go a long way in your ability to manage others well.
Not only should you be comfortable working with team members, a developer who is able to effectively communicate with clients goes a long way. There’s nothing more valuable than a person who is able to explain even the most nuanced, technical items in layman’s terms. Too few people possess this gift; my mechanic is one of those. To be clear, I know absolutely nothing about cars. They’re pretty much a giant black box that takes me from point A to point B. I’ve taken my car to many shops where they’ll perform their work and leave me freaking out over the giant quote at the end. Richard, on the other hand, tells me what’s wrong with my car step- by-step. What would happen if this thingamajig failed, what happens when that whatchamacallit leaks, and how important the cranky metal thingy is to the overall well-being of my car. Not only does it give me confidence in Richard’s ability, but it also inspires trust from me as a client. I’ll never trust the Midas touch ever again.
An ideal senior developer not only has the ability to delegate tasks to juniors accordingly, but they should also be able to manage up. Don’t simply wait for orders from your peers and higher- ups, but establish ground rules with your managers and peers. It also has the benefit of minimizing your boss’ unrealistic expectations about how quickly a project can be completed. Keeping an honest and open dialogue with employees at all levels from product people to designers will ensure that there are no surprises for either of you, most importantly, it makes you appear more reliable.
Seasoned developers ready to move on up have the wisdom to more accurately estimate deadlines and plan projects accordingly to meet those goals. Your time-management and organizational skills must be on par with your own programming ability. Being able to self- manage projects is crucial because it demonstrates the potential to effectively manage others as well. Wake up, sheeple! Kidding aside, there’s a big difference between someone who’s a great programmer and someone who’s a good programmer but a great leader. Even the most alpha sheep is still a sheep. Only the shepherd can manage the herd.
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