Junior Developer vs Senior Developer

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Show Notes

Introduction

• We’ll break down the different levels of developers and what is required of them from a high-level
• Titles are very arbitrary and can be mostly made up in smaller/non-tech companies
• We’ll cover a bit on how to make the transition up the ladder
• For people who are laid off, this will give them a good idea on where they would fit in at most companies

Junior Developer

• Entry-level role to get into tech
• Still usually has some years of experience requirement (this can be ignored if you have a good portfolio)
• Long onboarding with a lot of mentoring and over-the-shoulder support
• Typically given basic tasks that can range from writing documentation to implementing heavily scoped features
• The key is most of the tasks you’ll be assigned will/should have very few assumptions that you’d have to make. All the details should be clear so that you can focus on implementation
• Example task
  • If the company is making a todo list, an example task for a junior developer would be to create the task item component that would take in some defined props and be able to be used in a template loop to show all the tasks

Developer (intermediate)

• You’ve shown you can handle assigned tasks without any issue
• You’ve begun to expand from just doing assigned tasks to scoping out and creating tasks
• Typically 2-5 years of experience
• Have had one or several developer roles in the past
• Will be tasked with more complex tasks that might involve integrations, APIs, algorithm implementations, etc
• Will also be assigned small portions of the project to ‘own’
• Ownership of a feature means you’re required to go out and gather requirements, create some documentation, and create the tasks associated with it, usually alongside a project manager
• Example task
  • If the company is creating a todo list you might be assigned something like the user settings screen
  • Not much clarity would be given so you’d have to go out and figure out what the MVP for this could look like
  • Work with PM and design to get some layouts and timelines
  • Assign tasks to other developers (junior or otherwise)
  • Complete tasks yourself
  • Present feature after completion and follow up for enhancements and fixes

Senior Developer

• You’ve handled the implementation and scoping of several features at this point
• You’ve worked with all the relevant departments and shown you can take assigned high-level ideas to full implementation 
• Typical 5-10 years experience
• You’d be responsible for large portions or entire applications (ownership increases) 
• Potentially responsible for complex implementations that can touch many parts of your company infrastructure
  • Front-end, back-end, credentials server, database, etc
• Would be required to mentor and help out intermediate and junior developers
• Design system architecture
• You’d usually be an expert in certain technologies
  • For example, you’re an expert in TypeScript
• Example task
  • You’d be in charge of the entire todo list system architecture
  • You’d pick the tech stack that works with your company's technical expertise
  • You’d scope out the required 3rd party services and provide cost estimates
  • You’d work with the team to come up with the high-level features that need to be built and review the decisions the other devs make in how they break down each feature into implementation tasks
  • You’d usually create the app scaffolds and implement the initial system architecture
  • For a complex todo list maybe you need to set the database scaling
    • Authentication patterns
    • Testing methodology 
    • Schemas
  • You’d probably still take on some coding tasks for the project (usually the trickier ones)

Tech Lead

• You’ve shown that you’re interested in more of a leadership position
• You’re more inclined to mentor and guide your team then design and implement the system architecture 
• You’d do mostly what a senior developer does but work closely with the upper management and project management teams
• You’d make sure the technical choices being made align with the goals of the company
• You’d work as the intermediary making sure that timelines make sense from a technical perspective
• You’d be doing some project management and usually leading standups
• You’d also still be coding and taking complex coding tasks but with the mindset that you need to split time between leading and implementation
• Example task
  • Scope out the implementation of the todo list with the stakeholders and engineering team
  • Assist or be the project manager on the project
  • Make sure the development team has everything they need for success on the project
    • Clear roadblocks
  • Do most of the stuff that the senior would do, but maybe a bit less due to your leadership responsibilities

Staff Engineer

• Domain expert in multiple verticals in your company stack
• You’re making larger technical decisions that impact multiple projects 
• You’re assisting several teams in helping them with complex problems and unblocking them