9 ms·

Ask HN: Taking a junior SWE job at around 7 years?

51 points by toexitthedonut 10y ago

I'm a professional web developer of 7 years that, if taken at the superficial face value of how many years I've worked, is one that is expected to be mid-level or approaching senior-level. The problem is, my career growth feels stunted. All of this seems to be confirmed by interview feedback I've gathered recently from several companies. The gist of it is, I show knowledge in a couple of topics, but don't show a lot of depth in any of them. I've shown capability to perform my work as expected and told that I write clean code, but that I can't grasp the "big picture" ideas of software development better, or the minutiae of a given programming language. So with this in mind, would it be possible to go back to a junior position? I prefer to do so in a larger company, because I have never been actually mentored or have much guidance from a senior dev. In two places, I was the only programmer around. The problem here is that at showing 7 years of experience, it sounds like a turn-off for many companies if I show that I'm only capable at a junior-level. Perhaps removing my oldest jobs might help. How would you approach this?

cturhan 10y ago
Web is the most evolving technology. Unlike a java or c developer, web developer should refresh himself everyday. Doesn't matter if one is 1 or 10 year developer. With a 5 year experience, I must confess I feel like I know a few. Here is a good article[1] by David Walsh describing this feeling. At an interview, I can say I wrote apps with Vue, Angular 1.x and React but if they ask a question like "how to add a new cookie with specific domain using JS", I can't code without googling. [1] https://davidwalsh.name/impostor-syndrome https://davidwalsh.name/impostor-syndrome
jamesmp98 10y ago
I am going to get downvoted like hell for this, but if you feel like what they are saying is true, then sure.
- bcbrown 10y ago
  Yeah. I'd chop a couple of the oldest jobs off my resume and look for companies with a culture of mentorship and training.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- SadWebDeveloper 10y ago
  A fresh start will be great for landing easy (underpaid) jobs, i had a friend that used that strategy and when the team realized that he wasn't a JR they quickly promote him to bigger projects and way better pay.
jcslzr 10y ago
Do a side project, sell yourself on it, unless it works out and you can profit from the side project itself.
- jamesmp98 10y ago
  I thought most companies don't care about side projects.
  - leojg 10y ago
    Really? I get asked if I got some side project in most of the interviews... besides it is a good way of improving the skills he says is lacking
    - jamesmp98 10y ago
      Where do you live and what type of jobs do you apply to?
      - leojg 10y ago
        Uruguay(South America)... mostly semi-senior android and fullstack web developer
    - SadWebDeveloper 10y ago
      It matters if it is related to the job, usually it doesn't matter, to at least the python shop i was getting interviewed didn't seem to care my 5 years worth of projects in PHP and C#.
  - leojg 10y ago
    Really? I get asked if I got some side project in most of the interviews... besides it is a good way of improving the skills he says is lacking
  - 52-6F-62 10y ago
    Side projects and volunteer work helped me earn my current position. ~mid-level programmer at a large digital media corporation. My side projects are what swayed them. That and knowing some specifics to media of course. It wasn't solely the side projects, but they helped display a breadth of skill that I otherwise wouldn't have been able to with only work that I was paid by somebody else to do.
magic_beans 10y ago
There's a difference between a software engineer and a web developer. I'm assuming you build websites? Web developers don't typically deal with the sort of algorithmic problems that software engineers tend to deal with. You're essentially switching to a new career path, which is not a deal-breaker. Simply explain to companies that you are a senior level WEB developer, but a junior-level software engineer.
- jamesmp98 10y ago
  Honestly, being a web developer is dead nowadays anyway.
  - enraged_camel 10y ago
    >>being a web developer is dead nowadays What does that even mean?
    - jamesmp98 10y ago
      being a web developer in the sense of making websites is something that is left to marketing teams and others. You likely will not be developing a website by writing raw HTML, PHP, etc. anymore. Now web application development is very much alive, but that tends more to software development.
      - hashkb 10y ago
        When I hear "web developer" I think of a person who produces web applications. "Web designer" is the term for someone who produces WordPress sites.
        thehardsphere 10y ago
        This highlights a very key problem that the OP may be having. Less important than whether or not he is "junior", he needs to know what to call himself in order to correctly communicate the value proposition he's offering to the potential employer's HR department. The only way to know that is to figure out what people call what he wants to do in his market. Maybe he's a "web developer", maybe he's a "software engineer", maybe he's something in between. But he should definitely A/B test terms to see whether his responses change and how.
stale2002 10y ago
You are almost certainly selling yourself short. If you have 7 years of experience, you almost certainly have important, non-junior level skills of value. But companies do not hire people based on how good of a developer they are, they hire you based on how good you are at interviewing. These are corrolated, but not equivalent skills. What you need to do is get better at interviewing. Interviewing is a skill that needs to be practiced. That means you need to get better at programming silly algorithms on a whiteboard. Fortunately, this is a skill that can be practiced. There are loads of resources out there that will teach you exactly the stuff you need to know to become good at interviewing.
- eikenberry 10y ago
  +1 .. Plus a lot of interviewing skills are just common people skills that you can screw up without thinking about it. Just keep interviewing and pay attention and review things afterwards. Simple things can make a difference. I had a job that I really hated and tended to bad-talk the company in interviews. I went for months without an offer as it, not surprisingly, turns out that people don't respond well to this. Once I stopped doing it I had 2 offers within a few weeks.
  - PaulHoule 10y ago
    Interviewing is a lot like bowling. If all you can do is avoid stupid mistakes, you are doing better than 80% of people.
- strictnein 10y ago
  Also, study before your interview. The company, the products, and the tech being used. Refresh yourself on the skills they're asking for. Not as a way to fake it, but as a way to make sure those topics are fresh in your mind.
  - InitialLastName 10y ago
    To add to this, study everything on your resume. I hate interviewing people who say they "know DSP" but can't tell me why one might use a filter before down-sampling.
eikenberry 10y ago
I'd say go for a mid-level position. Most mid-level positions are really junior positions anyways given the way most companies define mid/senior positions. When interviewing look for feedback practices that can help you learn, like regular code reviews and peering. Every developer is constantly learning and some companies embrace that more than others, if you can find a company that takes it seriously then it shouldn't really matter if it is a junior position or not.
steven777400 10y ago
Have you actually received offers at the junior/mid level? Or are you just thinking of applying? I wouldn't worry about "years" too much. It's very very easy to work a number of years and still be a "junior" skill level. I see it all the time. It's not even a criticism of the person at all; if your job is "perform minor fixes/improvements to this web app" and you do that for 5 years, for example, you're not likely to have technical skills beyond the junior level even though you've worked for many years. This is not a problem. It just means that if you want to move your career forward you will need to find a position in a more tech-oriented, forward-moving, mentorship-based organization. A senior developer at a non-tech organization can easily translate into a junior or mid level developer at a major tech or tech startup.
- 5ourpu55 10y ago
  The phenomenon you describe is "the expert beginner" http://www.daedtech.com/how-developers-stop-learning-rise-of-the-expert-beginner/ http://www.daedtech.com/how-developers-stop-learning-rise-of...
5ourpu55 10y ago
If you really want to work there, and feel like you will get great experience from it? Sure. I've seen plenty of developers stagnate at a job, and then struggle when moving to a new job. My motto is "Don't let them waste your time." If you've stopped learning, and are staring at a screen for 8 hours a day feeling bored, get out as fast as possible. If a junior position is going to be extremely educational, sacrificing pay for learning experience is something I have done, and recommend. http://www.daedtech.com/how-developers-stop-learning-rise-of-the-expert-beginner/ http://www.daedtech.com/how-developers-stop-learning-rise-of...
thesmallestcat 10y ago
What a crazy idea. I mean, if you want to be paid less, go for it. Mid and senior engineers aren't walking tomes of CS knowledge. And junior engineers aren't the only ones learning. I've mentored quite a few senior engineers. As others have said here, you're probably bad at selling yourself in an interview.
kenferry 10y ago
When hiring a junior developer (or anyone, really), the attraction is the gleaming future potential of a person. So, if you want to get hired, you'll need to be projecting an exciting upward trajectory no matter what. I think you'll find it unconvincing to say "yes, I've been at it for seven years, but look, I should be able to do your junior work at least, yes?" So you want to frame it differently. For example, provided this is true, you could emphasize that you've been the most senior person in your company, but that your company offered limited growth opportunities. Now you're just champing at the bit to work with people from whom you can learn and grow, and you're overflowing with energy to do so. Demonstrate why it's true, perhaps with examples of things you've been poking at on your own. Or something. You need your story to be true, and the above might not be. But you do need to have _a_ communicable story.
- tedmiston 10y ago
  Second that this is a good reason to leave a company. Ideally you'll have some certain growth opportunities in mind to learn at the new place.
robalfonso 10y ago
One challenge I face with applicants is that they actually have 1 year of experience 7 times and not 7 years of experience. You should consider if that's what they are seeing. Some people are doing the exact same thing they were doing years ago and have no depth. Your challenge will be to paint a different picture. Which is easily possible. It sounds like you are interviewing but maybe not doing well face to face. Maybe you just need more prep and its not a deep issue?
- thesmallestcat 10y ago
  What does that really mean, "1 year of experience 7 times"? The candidate has the memory of a goldfish and literally relearns their skills every year? I think you're undervaluing experience in general.
  - tedmiston 10y ago
    It means they haven't really grown through their 7 years to do more advanced things and work on more complex projects. Adding features to the average business CRUD app on a LAMP stack for seven years straight is a lot different than applying your skills and energy to things like distributed systems, bigger scale projects, learning better abstractions and design patterns, etc.
    - sidlls 10y ago
      Actually, as I've seen it used, it usually is an alternate way of saying "that person is a job-hopper." The actual work on the resume is less relevant to a person using this phrase, usually, in my experience, than that they have had "sticking power" to stay with a given project through multiple phases (development, maintenance, etc.).
      - deleted 10y ago
        [deleted]
      - robalfonso 10y ago
        For me it actually means the same thing over and over. Had a guy with "15 years" of experience interview one time. He analyzed scientific data, sounded good. When we got into it he'd literally been writing/managing a parser in perl for a data sent with only minor changes. He did this for 15 years. Terrific waste of time. That guy was what I meant. He'd solved a specific set of problems over and over and never grown beyond that.
jressey 10y ago
I found myself in this scenario pretty recently. I had about 5 years experience at a non-tech company with experience in a million things. I had to move and was getting killed in interviews for sr. positions, until I wasn't. I found a company that saw my value and gave me a chance. I contracted for them for a few months then landed a 6-figure job doing stuff I'd never done before. I would encourage you to hold your head up, build some stuff in your spare time, and find a company that values what you are. If you are capable with JS in any capacity, double-down on that since it seems a lot of people are being hired from that. Plus you can show projects that can impress people of all backgrounds. I would also encourage you to reach out to any past associates or linkedin connections. Another resource I recommend for people is Mike Hartl's book(1) on Ruby on Rails. Yes, it does teach you that language/framework specifically, but it also shows you how the web and server-side applications work. You will be able to speak about REST, DB Associations, OO concepts, TDD, and several other buzzwords that impress employers. I don't know your work of course, but from the sounds of it you have a better shot than you think! Go get 'em. [1]https://www.railstutorial.org/book https://www.railstutorial.org/book
- toexitthedonut 10y ago
  I'm on mobile so not much time to type, but I do have a few JS projects. Some of them novel. I made a software renderer in JS that rasterizes triangles and takes JS shaders, emulating a programmable pipeline. I hope that I would at least stand out from most JS developers with stuff like this. I don't really have an interest in making a Twitter clone with a Bootstrap UI. I'm hoping someone takes a chance at my skills with my not so typical JS projects.
jmcgough 10y ago
It sounds like you haven't really been pushing yourself out of your comfort zone, and instead have plateau'd in terms of growth. Pick something that you find interesting, and go really deep in it (read books on the topic, develop OSS oriented around it). For a mid or senior level engineer, companies want someone with a broad enough set of skills that they can tackle most problems given to them, but also has a deep knowledge of one or more areas (which adds to the collective group of talents among the engineering team).
smithd98 10y ago
Hit me up on [twitter](https://www.twitter.com/davidsilvasmith https://www.twitter.com/davidsilvasmith) or [email](mailto:david@splt.io) I'm curious to learn more about what you are looking for.
- toexitthedonut 10y ago
  Sounds good. Email sent.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
kevin_morrill 10y ago
My company Mattermark is hiring, and I'd be happy to talk to about the full stack position we have. We have several more senior engineers on staff that are great mentors. We also work with a range of technologies that give you a chance to sample broadly but also go deeply in 1-2 areas. This includes everything from crawling/scraping to website to REST/Graph QL API to 3rd party integrations. Hit me up through kevin@mattermark.com
- toexitthedonut 10y ago
  Thanks, I'll be in touch with you soon.
twobyfour 10y ago
Mentorship is important, but you can get mentorship without taking a junior position. I have a very similar history in terms of starting my career as the only developer in my first few jobs. When I finally joined a few (small!) teams in a row that a) included other seniors; b) used mature processes; and c) included code review on every pull request, I caught up very quickly. A capable manager or VPE/CTO who's committed to helping their reports grow is also invaluable to a senior developer. And yes, it sounds like you may need to work on your interview technique.
davismwfl 10y ago
The magic of it all. You are selling yourself short. You know and are capable of way more then you give yourself credit for. There are three camps, those you think they are everything, those who doubt themselves and those who have no clue of their value. The trick is finding the value spot for yourself. Likely you are in the middle, which is perfect, but if you don't learn how to sell yourself you will suck donkey dick (e.g. be at the bottom end). Your job when applying for any position is to learn to sell your skill set and show what you can do for others. Learn to celebrate your success and tell other people what you can do, that is how you will make it to the next level. Sorry, it isn't all about perfect skill, it is about selling what skill you have.

cturhan 10y ago

Web is the most evolving technology. Unlike a java or c developer, web developer should refresh himself everyday. Doesn't matter if one is 1 or 10 year developer. With a 5 year experience, I must confess I feel like I know a few. Here is a good article[1] by David Walsh describing this feeling. At an interview, I can say I wrote apps with Vue, Angular 1.x and React but if they ask a question like "how to add a new cookie with specific domain using JS", I can't code without googling. [1] https://davidwalsh.name/impostor-syndrome https://davidwalsh.name/impostor-syndrome

jamesmp98 10y ago

I am going to get downvoted like hell for this, but if you feel like what they are saying is true, then sure.

bcbrown 10y ago
Yeah. I'd chop a couple of the oldest jobs off my resume and look for companies with a culture of mentorship and training.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
SadWebDeveloper 10y ago
A fresh start will be great for landing easy (underpaid) jobs, i had a friend that used that strategy and when the team realized that he wasn't a JR they quickly promote him to bigger projects and way better pay.

jcslzr 10y ago

Do a side project, sell yourself on it, unless it works out and you can profit from the side project itself.

jamesmp98 10y ago
I thought most companies don't care about side projects.
- leojg 10y ago
  Really? I get asked if I got some side project in most of the interviews... besides it is a good way of improving the skills he says is lacking
  - jamesmp98 10y ago
    Where do you live and what type of jobs do you apply to?
    - leojg 10y ago
      Uruguay(South America)... mostly semi-senior android and fullstack web developer
  - SadWebDeveloper 10y ago
    It matters if it is related to the job, usually it doesn't matter, to at least the python shop i was getting interviewed didn't seem to care my 5 years worth of projects in PHP and C#.
- leojg 10y ago
  Really? I get asked if I got some side project in most of the interviews... besides it is a good way of improving the skills he says is lacking
- 52-6F-62 10y ago
  Side projects and volunteer work helped me earn my current position. ~mid-level programmer at a large digital media corporation. My side projects are what swayed them. That and knowing some specifics to media of course. It wasn't solely the side projects, but they helped display a breadth of skill that I otherwise wouldn't have been able to with only work that I was paid by somebody else to do.

magic_beans 10y ago

There's a difference between a software engineer and a web developer. I'm assuming you build websites? Web developers don't typically deal with the sort of algorithmic problems that software engineers tend to deal with. You're essentially switching to a new career path, which is not a deal-breaker. Simply explain to companies that you are a senior level WEB developer, but a junior-level software engineer.

jamesmp98 10y ago
Honestly, being a web developer is dead nowadays anyway.
- enraged_camel 10y ago
  >>being a web developer is dead nowadays What does that even mean?
  - jamesmp98 10y ago
    being a web developer in the sense of making websites is something that is left to marketing teams and others. You likely will not be developing a website by writing raw HTML, PHP, etc. anymore. Now web application development is very much alive, but that tends more to software development.
    - hashkb 10y ago
      When I hear "web developer" I think of a person who produces web applications. "Web designer" is the term for someone who produces WordPress sites.
      - thehardsphere 10y ago
        This highlights a very key problem that the OP may be having. Less important than whether or not he is "junior", he needs to know what to call himself in order to correctly communicate the value proposition he's offering to the potential employer's HR department. The only way to know that is to figure out what people call what he wants to do in his market. Maybe he's a "web developer", maybe he's a "software engineer", maybe he's something in between. But he should definitely A/B test terms to see whether his responses change and how.

stale2002 10y ago

You are almost certainly selling yourself short. If you have 7 years of experience, you almost certainly have important, non-junior level skills of value. But companies do not hire people based on how good of a developer they are, they hire you based on how good you are at interviewing. These are corrolated, but not equivalent skills. What you need to do is get better at interviewing. Interviewing is a skill that needs to be practiced. That means you need to get better at programming silly algorithms on a whiteboard. Fortunately, this is a skill that can be practiced. There are loads of resources out there that will teach you exactly the stuff you need to know to become good at interviewing.

eikenberry 10y ago
+1 .. Plus a lot of interviewing skills are just common people skills that you can screw up without thinking about it. Just keep interviewing and pay attention and review things afterwards. Simple things can make a difference. I had a job that I really hated and tended to bad-talk the company in interviews. I went for months without an offer as it, not surprisingly, turns out that people don't respond well to this. Once I stopped doing it I had 2 offers within a few weeks.
- PaulHoule 10y ago
  Interviewing is a lot like bowling. If all you can do is avoid stupid mistakes, you are doing better than 80% of people.
strictnein 10y ago
Also, study before your interview. The company, the products, and the tech being used. Refresh yourself on the skills they're asking for. Not as a way to fake it, but as a way to make sure those topics are fresh in your mind.
- InitialLastName 10y ago
  To add to this, study everything on your resume. I hate interviewing people who say they "know DSP" but can't tell me why one might use a filter before down-sampling.

eikenberry 10y ago

I'd say go for a mid-level position. Most mid-level positions are really junior positions anyways given the way most companies define mid/senior positions. When interviewing look for feedback practices that can help you learn, like regular code reviews and peering. Every developer is constantly learning and some companies embrace that more than others, if you can find a company that takes it seriously then it shouldn't really matter if it is a junior position or not.

steven777400 10y ago

Have you actually received offers at the junior/mid level? Or are you just thinking of applying? I wouldn't worry about "years" too much. It's very very easy to work a number of years and still be a "junior" skill level. I see it all the time. It's not even a criticism of the person at all; if your job is "perform minor fixes/improvements to this web app" and you do that for 5 years, for example, you're not likely to have technical skills beyond the junior level even though you've worked for many years. This is not a problem. It just means that if you want to move your career forward you will need to find a position in a more tech-oriented, forward-moving, mentorship-based organization. A senior developer at a non-tech organization can easily translate into a junior or mid level developer at a major tech or tech startup.

5ourpu55 10y ago
The phenomenon you describe is "the expert beginner" http://www.daedtech.com/how-developers-stop-learning-rise-of-the-expert-beginner/ http://www.daedtech.com/how-developers-stop-learning-rise-of...

5ourpu55 10y ago

If you really want to work there, and feel like you will get great experience from it? Sure. I've seen plenty of developers stagnate at a job, and then struggle when moving to a new job. My motto is "Don't let them waste your time." If you've stopped learning, and are staring at a screen for 8 hours a day feeling bored, get out as fast as possible. If a junior position is going to be extremely educational, sacrificing pay for learning experience is something I have done, and recommend. http://www.daedtech.com/how-developers-stop-learning-rise-of-the-expert-beginner/ http://www.daedtech.com/how-developers-stop-learning-rise-of...

thesmallestcat 10y ago

What a crazy idea. I mean, if you want to be paid less, go for it. Mid and senior engineers aren't walking tomes of CS knowledge. And junior engineers aren't the only ones learning. I've mentored quite a few senior engineers. As others have said here, you're probably bad at selling yourself in an interview.

kenferry 10y ago

When hiring a junior developer (or anyone, really), the attraction is the gleaming future potential of a person. So, if you want to get hired, you'll need to be projecting an exciting upward trajectory no matter what. I think you'll find it unconvincing to say "yes, I've been at it for seven years, but look, I should be able to do your junior work at least, yes?" So you want to frame it differently. For example, provided this is true, you could emphasize that you've been the most senior person in your company, but that your company offered limited growth opportunities. Now you're just champing at the bit to work with people from whom you can learn and grow, and you're overflowing with energy to do so. Demonstrate why it's true, perhaps with examples of things you've been poking at on your own. Or something. You need your story to be true, and the above might not be. But you do need to have _a_ communicable story.

tedmiston 10y ago
Second that this is a good reason to leave a company. Ideally you'll have some certain growth opportunities in mind to learn at the new place.

robalfonso 10y ago

One challenge I face with applicants is that they actually have 1 year of experience 7 times and not 7 years of experience. You should consider if that's what they are seeing. Some people are doing the exact same thing they were doing years ago and have no depth. Your challenge will be to paint a different picture. Which is easily possible. It sounds like you are interviewing but maybe not doing well face to face. Maybe you just need more prep and its not a deep issue?

thesmallestcat 10y ago
What does that really mean, "1 year of experience 7 times"? The candidate has the memory of a goldfish and literally relearns their skills every year? I think you're undervaluing experience in general.
- tedmiston 10y ago
  It means they haven't really grown through their 7 years to do more advanced things and work on more complex projects. Adding features to the average business CRUD app on a LAMP stack for seven years straight is a lot different than applying your skills and energy to things like distributed systems, bigger scale projects, learning better abstractions and design patterns, etc.
  - sidlls 10y ago
    Actually, as I've seen it used, it usually is an alternate way of saying "that person is a job-hopper." The actual work on the resume is less relevant to a person using this phrase, usually, in my experience, than that they have had "sticking power" to stay with a given project through multiple phases (development, maintenance, etc.).
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
    - robalfonso 10y ago
      For me it actually means the same thing over and over. Had a guy with "15 years" of experience interview one time. He analyzed scientific data, sounded good. When we got into it he'd literally been writing/managing a parser in perl for a data sent with only minor changes. He did this for 15 years. Terrific waste of time. That guy was what I meant. He'd solved a specific set of problems over and over and never grown beyond that.

jressey 10y ago

I found myself in this scenario pretty recently. I had about 5 years experience at a non-tech company with experience in a million things. I had to move and was getting killed in interviews for sr. positions, until I wasn't. I found a company that saw my value and gave me a chance. I contracted for them for a few months then landed a 6-figure job doing stuff I'd never done before. I would encourage you to hold your head up, build some stuff in your spare time, and find a company that values what you are. If you are capable with JS in any capacity, double-down on that since it seems a lot of people are being hired from that. Plus you can show projects that can impress people of all backgrounds. I would also encourage you to reach out to any past associates or linkedin connections. Another resource I recommend for people is Mike Hartl's book(1) on Ruby on Rails. Yes, it does teach you that language/framework specifically, but it also shows you how the web and server-side applications work. You will be able to speak about REST, DB Associations, OO concepts, TDD, and several other buzzwords that impress employers. I don't know your work of course, but from the sounds of it you have a better shot than you think! Go get 'em. [1]https://www.railstutorial.org/book https://www.railstutorial.org/book

toexitthedonut 10y ago
I'm on mobile so not much time to type, but I do have a few JS projects. Some of them novel. I made a software renderer in JS that rasterizes triangles and takes JS shaders, emulating a programmable pipeline. I hope that I would at least stand out from most JS developers with stuff like this. I don't really have an interest in making a Twitter clone with a Bootstrap UI. I'm hoping someone takes a chance at my skills with my not so typical JS projects.

jmcgough 10y ago

It sounds like you haven't really been pushing yourself out of your comfort zone, and instead have plateau'd in terms of growth. Pick something that you find interesting, and go really deep in it (read books on the topic, develop OSS oriented around it). For a mid or senior level engineer, companies want someone with a broad enough set of skills that they can tackle most problems given to them, but also has a deep knowledge of one or more areas (which adds to the collective group of talents among the engineering team).

smithd98 10y ago

Hit me up on [twitter](https://www.twitter.com/davidsilvasmith https://www.twitter.com/davidsilvasmith) or [email](mailto:david@splt.io) I'm curious to learn more about what you are looking for.

toexitthedonut 10y ago
Sounds good. Email sent.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

kevin_morrill 10y ago

My company Mattermark is hiring, and I'd be happy to talk to about the full stack position we have. We have several more senior engineers on staff that are great mentors. We also work with a range of technologies that give you a chance to sample broadly but also go deeply in 1-2 areas. This includes everything from crawling/scraping to website to REST/Graph QL API to 3rd party integrations. Hit me up through kevin@mattermark.com

toexitthedonut 10y ago
Thanks, I'll be in touch with you soon.

twobyfour 10y ago

Mentorship is important, but you can get mentorship without taking a junior position. I have a very similar history in terms of starting my career as the only developer in my first few jobs. When I finally joined a few (small!) teams in a row that a) included other seniors; b) used mature processes; and c) included code review on every pull request, I caught up very quickly. A capable manager or VPE/CTO who's committed to helping their reports grow is also invaluable to a senior developer. And yes, it sounds like you may need to work on your interview technique.

davismwfl 10y ago

The magic of it all. You are selling yourself short. You know and are capable of way more then you give yourself credit for. There are three camps, those you think they are everything, those who doubt themselves and those who have no clue of their value. The trick is finding the value spot for yourself. Likely you are in the middle, which is perfect, but if you don't learn how to sell yourself you will suck donkey dick (e.g. be at the bottom end). Your job when applying for any position is to learn to sell your skill set and show what you can do for others. Learn to celebrate your success and tell other people what you can do, that is how you will make it to the next level. Sorry, it isn't all about perfect skill, it is about selling what skill you have.