3 ms·

I think the article has some good points regarding the expectations of a senior engineer but also seems to conflate the duties of a team lead with senior engine

I think the article has some good points regarding the expectations of a senior engineer but also seems to conflate the duties of a team lead with senior engineer, but in my experience those are two different roles (and usually titles).

wink 7y ago
Which ones do you have in mind? Maybe "A senior engineer should support their peers" and "A senior engineer should empower their peers through their career track"? and I think those should be mandatory for a good team lead, but they don't really hurt in a senior either. I think the article focuses a lot of one definition of senior who is a good team player as well and not the star coder/hero of the team who pulls all-nighters and whose code no one understands. There are some areas where you need these people, but I'd rather go with the team players most of the time I think "A senior engineer should be a motivator for the rest of the team" is a bit odd, but maybe rephrasing it to "A senior engineer shouldn't be the one complaining all the time.", if I was hypothetically speaking about myself :P
- fallous 7y ago
  Yeah, a senior engineer role is most assuredly is NOT "all-nighters and unreadable code." But neither is it necessarily the mentor style of role that the author advocated, which is more appropriate as the job duties of a team lead. A senior engineer most assuredly should be the one that thinks about the problem at hand in a deep way, preferably understanding the business needs and such, and provides solutions that not only solve the immediate need but also has the flexibility to anticipate future demands. It would also be nice if they proactively tried to improve less-senior engineers via mentoring and contributed leadership to team building but those are, in my opinion, bonus attributes rather than fundamental necessities.

3 ms·

I think the article has some good points regarding the expectations of a senior engineer but also seems to conflate the duties of a team lead with senior engine

by fallous 7y ago

wink 7y ago
Which ones do you have in mind? Maybe "A senior engineer should support their peers" and "A senior engineer should empower their peers through their career track"? and I think those should be mandatory for a good team lead, but they don't really hurt in a senior either. I think the article focuses a lot of one definition of senior who is a good team player as well and not the star coder/hero of the team who pulls all-nighters and whose code no one understands. There are some areas where you need these people, but I'd rather go with the team players most of the time I think "A senior engineer should be a motivator for the rest of the team" is a bit odd, but maybe rephrasing it to "A senior engineer shouldn't be the one complaining all the time.", if I was hypothetically speaking about myself :P
- fallous 7y ago
  Yeah, a senior engineer role is most assuredly is NOT "all-nighters and unreadable code." But neither is it necessarily the mentor style of role that the author advocated, which is more appropriate as the job duties of a team lead. A senior engineer most assuredly should be the one that thinks about the problem at hand in a deep way, preferably understanding the business needs and such, and provides solutions that not only solve the immediate need but also has the flexibility to anticipate future demands. It would also be nice if they proactively tried to improve less-senior engineers via mentoring and contributed leadership to team building but those are, in my opinion, bonus attributes rather than fundamental necessities.