4 ms·

In lots of places, staff engineer is the next level up from senior.

by kybernetikos 2y ago

zabzonk 2y ago
OK, what is "senior"? And what is "next level up" in this context?
- OJFord 2y ago
  Up from mid or junior. A promotion. Every profession has that, why do (some) software engineers have to act like it's strange.
  - zabzonk 2y ago
    How about: "We really like the work you have done on ABC. Now, XYZ needs some help. We'd like you to work with them, and we'll give you a P% raise." Happens all the time as a consultant/contractor - no need for half-assed job titles. Should work for non-consultants too.
    - johnnyanmac 2y ago
      Most clients won't know exactly what you did at ABC, nor how much you contributed to it. If you were a junior it probably wasn't much. If you started as a senior and got promoted to a Staff by the end of your tenure you probably did a great job. That's all titles are. A convinent black box to judge for companies that don't want to outright share every detail of the process. And it works because XYZ also won't reveal their details. >Happens all the time as a consultant/contractor - no need for half-assed job titles. Should work for non-consultants too. The employed world is sadly different from being self employed. They don't need to deep probe someone they are hiring for a short contract as much as someone on the payroll. Or if you're being cynical, consultants are only hired for confirmation bias for something the company wants to do but wants to push liability away from. So they just need a fancy firm with C years of experience and success. The skills don't actually matter.
- kybernetikos 2y ago
  Obviously such things do vary across organisations. Usually these job titles reflect levels of trust and impact across the organisation. In my experience, a senior will be the backbone of a team while a staff engineer will have impact across multiple teams. If you can't identify and communicate to the rest of the organisation about technical people who are providing a higher order of value, then it shouldn't be too much of a surprise if its hard to progress without going into management. I get that programmers tend to be slightly anarchic and distrustful of authority but these titles exist to support a technical career path.

In lots of places, staff engineer is the next level up from senior.

zabzonk 2y ago

OK, what is "senior"? And what is "next level up" in this context?

OJFord 2y ago
Up from mid or junior. A promotion. Every profession has that, why do (some) software engineers have to act like it's strange.
- zabzonk 2y ago
  How about: "We really like the work you have done on ABC. Now, XYZ needs some help. We'd like you to work with them, and we'll give you a P% raise." Happens all the time as a consultant/contractor - no need for half-assed job titles. Should work for non-consultants too.
  - johnnyanmac 2y ago
    Most clients won't know exactly what you did at ABC, nor how much you contributed to it. If you were a junior it probably wasn't much. If you started as a senior and got promoted to a Staff by the end of your tenure you probably did a great job. That's all titles are. A convinent black box to judge for companies that don't want to outright share every detail of the process. And it works because XYZ also won't reveal their details. >Happens all the time as a consultant/contractor - no need for half-assed job titles. Should work for non-consultants too. The employed world is sadly different from being self employed. They don't need to deep probe someone they are hiring for a short contract as much as someone on the payroll. Or if you're being cynical, consultants are only hired for confirmation bias for something the company wants to do but wants to push liability away from. So they just need a fancy firm with C years of experience and success. The skills don't actually matter.
kybernetikos 2y ago
Obviously such things do vary across organisations. Usually these job titles reflect levels of trust and impact across the organisation. In my experience, a senior will be the backbone of a team while a staff engineer will have impact across multiple teams. If you can't identify and communicate to the rest of the organisation about technical people who are providing a higher order of value, then it shouldn't be too much of a surprise if its hard to progress without going into management. I get that programmers tend to be slightly anarchic and distrustful of authority but these titles exist to support a technical career path.