The Merits of a Senior Developer

Below is a list of good characteristics/working attitudes that are essential to be obtained by a senior developer. These “merits” come from my real daily experience when I was an individual contributor in the past 5 years. I might get them from a book or a conversation with others or here or there. I really have absorbed them and been able to follow these “merits” in my daily office life. Even though I state they are for senior developers, some of these points are still working for me as I am switching my role to a manager and director.

These “merits” are for fellow developers

Be a glue of your team — Not be the only star in your team

Try to help others become stars, then you will be a mentor of stars :)

Be a servant of your team — Not be the boss of your team

Do you worry about what happens when your teammates won’t listen to you? Remember, they will respect you when you are willing to lower your body and let your team members step on your shoulders to reach success.

Find good initiatives and go for them

It just means self-driven.

Communications are always important

Communication is a broad concept. Long story short, it is important, especially in a big corporation. Don’t try to escape from it like I did when I was a novice.

Be an advocator of your work

Your hard work, furthermore, brilliant work deserves others’ appreciation. Especially, those work makes other people’s life easy.

Be an influencer to your peers and your boss

Take responsibilities before your boss asks

Usually, you need to prove that you can take more responsibilities before you get promoted. Not the other way around.

You own the product you build

As a web developer, you are not a heartless brick stacker. When you are in a project, you are working on an art piece that users will appreciate. You are the owner of your product, no doubt about that! Then, your ownership should start from the time of design to post-release all the way across.

Be a half Product Manager in your team

Understand the products and the projects you are going to anticipate. Do not let PM dedicate the decisions on what you should build. Be encouraged to participate in the product design discussions from the perspective of a senior engineer. Your goal is to find the balance between a cohesive, reasonable, user-friendly product and an executable, affordable, sustainable code design.