Be the senior you needed as a junior
I started working in a company as a junior, where I had the privilege of having a great mentor. Mentor, by definition, is someone who provides advice and assistance over a period of time, such as at work or in school.
Mentors can be anyone who is willing to teach you from their experience. It can be a peer you talk to regularly and discuss various topics with. When we talk about a mentor within your organisation, it is usually an employee that is in a more senior position than you.
Despite the technical skills needed for an engineer to become a senior engineer, there are many other interpersonal skills that are underestimated.
How to be the senior that you needed when you were a junior?
👂 Listen
I think one of the most important skills is the ability to listen to what other people want to say. Usually, young and inexperienced engineers are highly motivated to progress so it is important that they have a mentor they can talk to and be heard by.
Early on in my career, I had many questions about “How?” and “Why?” specific things were done a certain way. On the other hand, I also had many ideas.
Being able to talk to several senior engineers without being afraid of asking “stupid” questions was very appreciated.
My advice would be to create a safe space where you can speak with the juniors. It is a two-way learning. Not only the juniors learn from you, but also, when you take the time to listen, you can learn a lot from them too.
🙋♀ Challenge
The difference between juniors and seniors is that usually juniors follow the requirements of what needs to be done. It is expected from seniors to think “outside of the box”, isn’t it? Meaning to challenge everything, including business requirements, processes and technical decisions.
Looking back, I strongly believe that being challenged was one of the best things when I started my career. It was the time when I questioned everything, but also when seniors questioned the code that I had written and why I implemented or did something a certain way.
🌱 Encourage
Encourage juniors to take responsibility and to own their work. Yes! To own their work.
Engage juniors in discussions with the Product team about features. That way, they will learn more about the product and the processes that you follow.
Invite juniors to technical meetings and be open to discussing approaches and decisions with them. They can learn from you while also contributing to the overall discussion, so it is highly beneficial for them. It is, indeed, a great feeling to be able to contribute.
Last but not least, encourage them to research and read about a certain topic. Give them the opportunity to reach out to you whenever they feel like discussing something, to share their knowledge with the team or the company.
🎖 Feedback
Through feedback, we grow. This is not only applicable to us as engineers, but also to every area of our life.
Feedback enables growth and development within an organisation. It also improves the levels of trust and communication between the employees.
Give feedback to juniors with empathy and patience. This helps them see how they can improve.
Ask juniors for feedback. Doing so will help you understand how you can improve as well.
Discussion
Are you a senior engineer? Which skills do you find most important for a senior engineer? If you were a junior engineer, what advice would you give?
