4 ms·

It's already well understood that "senior" and other titles and even total years of experience say very little about an individual's level of ability as a softw

It's already well understood that "senior" and other titles and even total years of experience say very little about an individual's level of ability as a software developer. Most software development teams ask stringent coding questions during job interviews for precisely this reason.

twblalock 8y ago
When my team interviews junior engineers we mainly focus on coding questions. When we interview senior engineers we tend to spend about half the time on design questions, many of which involve no coding at all. This is because the important difference between a junior and senior engineer is not coding skill -- it is the ability to implement solutions that work properly, fulfill the requirements, and are scalable and fault tolerant. Junior candidates can sometimes do that, but most of the time they don't know when a design lacks fault tolerance or has scalability problems. When design flaws are pointed out, they don't know how to fix them or how to defend them as better trade-offs compared to the alternatives. It takes a bit experience to be able to do that -- especially experience fixing things that went wrong.
- scarface74 8y ago
  I would go even further, my last two jobs, I was asked no coding questions.
sjg007 8y ago
True. Levels in job titles are in part virtue signaling mechanisms within a corporation.
- bradleyjg 8y ago
  > virtue signaling mechanisms This is getting totally out of hand. What virtue, exactly, is purportedly being signaled? Love? Hope? Faith? Prudence? Temperance? Courage? Justice? Charity? Fortitude?
  - sjg007 8y ago
    Yes virtue was the wrong word choice. Status is probably a better one.
codingdave 8y ago
Of course, by the time you are senior, your software dev abilities should be a smaller piece of what you do. Making the business succeed is your job now. Sometimes that is coding. Sometimes that is making sure you don't code the wrong thing. Sometimes it is mentoring others, or training the other teams on details of the product. Could be gathering requirements from stakeholders, or interviewing customers. Could be sales support, team leadership, or other organizational needs. Sure, every senior dev can code. But 'Senior' isn't about being the best coder... it is about being helpful with the bigger picture.

twblalock 8y ago

When my team interviews junior engineers we mainly focus on coding questions. When we interview senior engineers we tend to spend about half the time on design questions, many of which involve no coding at all. This is because the important difference between a junior and senior engineer is not coding skill -- it is the ability to implement solutions that work properly, fulfill the requirements, and are scalable and fault tolerant. Junior candidates can sometimes do that, but most of the time they don't know when a design lacks fault tolerance or has scalability problems. When design flaws are pointed out, they don't know how to fix them or how to defend them as better trade-offs compared to the alternatives. It takes a bit experience to be able to do that -- especially experience fixing things that went wrong.

scarface74 8y ago
I would go even further, my last two jobs, I was asked no coding questions.

sjg007 8y ago

True. Levels in job titles are in part virtue signaling mechanisms within a corporation.

bradleyjg 8y ago
> virtue signaling mechanisms This is getting totally out of hand. What virtue, exactly, is purportedly being signaled? Love? Hope? Faith? Prudence? Temperance? Courage? Justice? Charity? Fortitude?
- sjg007 8y ago
  Yes virtue was the wrong word choice. Status is probably a better one.

codingdave 8y ago

Of course, by the time you are senior, your software dev abilities should be a smaller piece of what you do. Making the business succeed is your job now. Sometimes that is coding. Sometimes that is making sure you don't code the wrong thing. Sometimes it is mentoring others, or training the other teams on details of the product. Could be gathering requirements from stakeholders, or interviewing customers. Could be sales support, team leadership, or other organizational needs. Sure, every senior dev can code. But 'Senior' isn't about being the best coder... it is about being helpful with the bigger picture.