this post was submitted on 17 Sep 2023
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Programming
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I don't think titles directly transfer between companies, and yet the industry allows it. It's a very useful tool for advancement.
Time on the job does not equate to skill. Some jobs force you to figure shit out that other jobs simply never expose you to. Other jobs expose you to lots of busywork and that isn't going to make you a better engineer either.
I've met senior engineers with 3 years that are significantly more useful than senior engineers with 10 years. Individual motivation and willingness to learn matter the most to me.
I have used the ladder to my advantage and advise others to do the same. It's a game, you don't win by not playing.
For better or worse, social skills are as important as actual tech skills. This is scary for nerds whose brains can't socialize properly. I've seen mediocre-skilled "leaders" lord it over better workers using sophisticated bullying and manipulation.
As important if you want to get higher positions and partially also for more money. But if you "just" want to do stuff you like it is fine.
This may be true on some corners of the industry, but at the more competitive end (both in terms of competitive pay, and a competitive pool of candidates)... I believe it's common to relevel on hire. I've seen folks go from director to senior and from senior to junior at my org. The candidates being offered those seemingly big "demotions" often seem to be somewhere between unphased and enthusiastic about the change, presumably because the compensation package we offer at the lower level beats what they were getting with an inflated title and because they know their inflated title is nonsense and they're frustrated with the other aspects of organizational dysfunction that accompany title inflation at their current company.
What you say is real, and sometimes a promotion in one org can help bridge you into an org that would have been hard to get hired into as a junior, or harder to get promoted in. It's not without risk though. All things being equal, I'd much rather spend my time working on a strong team and learning a lot and being challenged than to be in a weaker org that's handing out inflated titles. Getting gud isn't a guarantee of advancement, but it's at least as reliable over the long haul as title inflation.
Definitely. I realised this too late because money wasn't important to me when all I wanted was an interesting challenge. Things changed when I heard how much the contracting company was hiring me out for (I was earning ~40% of that) and my rent doubled. Some countries are shit with titles though and the technical ladder ends at senior. To go higher means being coming a team leader in those countries. Thank you COVID for making it possible work remotely across borders. ~100% salary increase and new title.
/thread
At some point climbing the career ladder just means taking on vastly different responsibilities. If all you want to do is code, there isn't always the career ladder you might know from big tech. It just ends at senior.
Which doesn't mean that your career end there, your experience is just measured by years of experience and what you achieved, not some title.
Sometimes the only winning move is not to play