> I also wouldn’t expect someone to be a “Senior” after graduating (even with a PhD, and even if it were in Computer Science or a closely related field) in ~2 y

> I also wouldn’t expect someone to be a “Senior” after graduating (even with a PhD, and even if it were in Computer Science or a closely related field) in ~2 years either. I suppose it depends on your org. Where I work "senior" is the second level up, where the first level is given to new hires fresh out of college (mostly master's, some bachelor's). If someone comes in with a PhD in a related field -- though perhaps not a completely unrelated one like music composition -- I'd be surprised for them not be a senior or even a lead (the third level up). The researcher positions that require a PhD tend to be advertised as leads in my experience. I was originally hired as a senior data scientist although I had minimal relevant work experience, but I had worked in an arguably related field (mostly ETL) for 5 years after bailing out of a PhD program (all but dissertation in economics).