The only thing you need to become a Senior Engineer…

There are a lot of medium articles claiming the 5 things you need or learn x, y and z to become a senior engineer. They tell you to do this to shortcut your way to a higher income or respectability. However..

You need time

I’m sorry, there is no shortcut. You can get the ‘title’ if you negotiate enough and convince people that you need to be ‘senior’ in order to get hired or stay in the company. But I’m sorry, you are not a senior engineer. I don’t want to give anyone more “impostor syndrome” but sometimes you have to face a bit of reality. Two years working on React, Node or Ruby does not make you a senior engineer.

How did I come to this conclusion

Today, I’m a better developer than yesterday. I learned something new or figured out I did something wrong. It could be related to programming or to dealing with people. It could be how to write better documents or a new trick on a tool I used. I watched a video on youtube, read something on medium or watched a section of a udemy course. I discussed technology with a co-worker. I figured out how to handle stress better. I learned to read my co-workers better and know when to help and when to let them figure out things on their own. I also learned more how to recognize when I need help and when I need to figure things on my own.

I know I’m better than yesterday.

And yesterday, I was better than the day before. And so on…

Caveat

Most people’s advice of what you need is usually something they have an abundance of. A person who contributes to open source would claim, a github account should be everyone’s resume. Curiosity is the key to being a good developer says a guy who is very curious about technology.

This article is no different. I have a quarter of a century coding experience. So I say to all, time is what really matters.