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I had a "Senior Software Engineer" title after only about 2-3 years of real-world programming experience, at age 23 or so. I had shipped a couple games as lead

I had a "Senior Software Engineer" title after only about 2-3 years of real-world programming experience, at age 23 or so. I had shipped a couple games as lead by then, so it wasn't entirely unearned.

enneff 13y ago
But I'm sure software had existed a long time before you started. The GP's point was that being a "Senior web engineer," when the web itself has only been around a few years is impressive.
- PeterisP 13y ago
  I'd say that it is trivial - if a new topic starts and is rapidly growing, then after 3-4 years almost anybody who started working on it near the beginning would be better than 99% of everyone else (simple 99% of others are newbies in the are), and his/her tasks would include a say in 'how it should be done' and mentoring those others - so, Senior xxx.
chris_wot 13y ago
I was senior consultant, but for a two man organisation. The other man was the owner. Later on he told me I wasn't up to standards to be "senior" consultant. He then became the sole member of the business :-)
EnderMB 13y ago
I started out at a non-technical startup that was pushing a technical tool as its main product. Out of a team of three developers, I became the Lead Developer, despite having barely a year of experience, simply because I was the better programmer and was willing to call management out when they tried to make technical decisions. I was offered a choice of "Senior Developer" and "Lead Developer" and went with the lead role because I didn't feel very senior. In reality, I was barely a junior dev, and being in charge of a site that's getting millions of views was absolutely terrifying. In some ways, it was one of the best training exercises I could have. It forced me to learn things, and to learn them well. It was also total bullshit. My pay wasn't that great, and although I was working in a startup that was slowly becoming technical, had absolute control over technical decisions, and was able to turn a company that struggled with FTPing to a server into one with automated builds, regular code reviews using a new source control system (Git), and much more, it still highlighted more than anything that I really didn't have the slightest clue what I was doing. It really couldn't have gone better for me. The company was acquired, and I landed a job at a great agency, and was able to work on enough projects to actually know what I was doing, and to see what good code looks like. I'm a mid-level developer now, with much better pay, but instead of looking back over old code and laughing, I tend to look back over the time where I led the technical side of a startup and laugh.
- SomeCallMeTim 13y ago
  Congrats! Sounds like quite a ride. :) Can you believe that when I started, barely anyone used source control? That's what jumped out at me about your story, oddly enough. When I started the Web hadn't been invented, and the only version control packages were CVS and commercial options. CVS sucks, in case you're wondering. So did most of the commercial options. In my own case I'd been programming and writing games for fun since I was 14, so by the time I took my first job at 22, I'd already been coding pretty regularly for 8 years. Some of that was actually for-pay, though only a few months worth. So between the experience I did have and my oversized ego, I pretty much expected the "Senior" label.

enneff 13y ago

But I'm sure software had existed a long time before you started. The GP's point was that being a "Senior web engineer," when the web itself has only been around a few years is impressive.

PeterisP 13y ago
I'd say that it is trivial - if a new topic starts and is rapidly growing, then after 3-4 years almost anybody who started working on it near the beginning would be better than 99% of everyone else (simple 99% of others are newbies in the are), and his/her tasks would include a say in 'how it should be done' and mentoring those others - so, Senior xxx.

chris_wot 13y ago

I was senior consultant, but for a two man organisation. The other man was the owner. Later on he told me I wasn't up to standards to be "senior" consultant. He then became the sole member of the business :-)

EnderMB 13y ago

I started out at a non-technical startup that was pushing a technical tool as its main product. Out of a team of three developers, I became the Lead Developer, despite having barely a year of experience, simply because I was the better programmer and was willing to call management out when they tried to make technical decisions. I was offered a choice of "Senior Developer" and "Lead Developer" and went with the lead role because I didn't feel very senior. In reality, I was barely a junior dev, and being in charge of a site that's getting millions of views was absolutely terrifying. In some ways, it was one of the best training exercises I could have. It forced me to learn things, and to learn them well. It was also total bullshit. My pay wasn't that great, and although I was working in a startup that was slowly becoming technical, had absolute control over technical decisions, and was able to turn a company that struggled with FTPing to a server into one with automated builds, regular code reviews using a new source control system (Git), and much more, it still highlighted more than anything that I really didn't have the slightest clue what I was doing. It really couldn't have gone better for me. The company was acquired, and I landed a job at a great agency, and was able to work on enough projects to actually know what I was doing, and to see what good code looks like. I'm a mid-level developer now, with much better pay, but instead of looking back over old code and laughing, I tend to look back over the time where I led the technical side of a startup and laugh.

SomeCallMeTim 13y ago
Congrats! Sounds like quite a ride. :) Can you believe that when I started, barely anyone used source control? That's what jumped out at me about your story, oddly enough. When I started the Web hadn't been invented, and the only version control packages were CVS and commercial options. CVS sucks, in case you're wondering. So did most of the commercial options. In my own case I'd been programming and writing games for fun since I was 14, so by the time I took my first job at 22, I'd already been coding pretty regularly for 8 years. Some of that was actually for-pay, though only a few months worth. So between the experience I did have and my oversized ego, I pretty much expected the "Senior" label.