8 tips to get promoted to a Senior Software engineer
Written by Manoj
Satish Kumar
Dear reader,
So you are now a software engineer in an IT company and you want to get promoted to a Senior
Software
Engineer. You want to know what are the things you should do so that the management promotes you in
the
upcoming appraisal cycle.
I myself have undergone this change and I became a software architect. So I believe I am qualified
enough
to give you the right tips and tricks that you can perform to get promoted to a Senior Software
Engineer.
Please note that you should be willing to perform the duties of a Sr. Software Engineer in
your
company before reading this article. If the answer is Yes, please proceed reading. Many people are
confused and some don't even know what are the roles and responsibilities of a Sr.Software
Engineer.
Hopefully, this blog post will clear your doubts and give you the reason why you are still a
Software
Engineer and what you need to do to become a Sr. Software Engineer.
Let us understand what a Sr.Software Engineer does differently versus a Software Engineer.
This will let you know about what you need to do to get promoted to a senior role.
You then need to exhibit the below Senior qualities in your company so that the management makes a
decision to promote you.
#1
Writing code
Writing quality code is the primary requirement to call yourself as a software engineer. You are
hired
to write code. Quality code. Code that adds value to the company's business. Code that implements
a
business logic.
Software engineer writes good quality code and implements a functionality
for a project.
Sr. Software engineer creates projects, libraries and enhances the
underlying framework.
Software engineer writes unit tests for the functionality.
Sr. Software engineer writes unit tests for all the edge case scenarios and
knows when a unit test should fail.
Software engineer implements an
already designed workflow.
Sr. Software engineer creates design documents, tries to design a new
workflow and also implements it.
#2
Reviewing Code
Code reviews are very important and they ensure that quality code is being written and the
project
is
polished, well written and follows guidelines. However, the type of code review "comments" differ
between individuals.
Software engineer provides comments about static analysis and lint
errors.
Sr. Software engineer sets up Static analyzer and Linter for the
project.
Software engineer provides
comments on following the coding standard.
Sr. Software engineer creates a sophisticated coding standard and then asks
others to follow.
Software engineer provides
comments on indicating the issue in the code.
Sr. Software engineer indicates the issue and also suggests a fix for the
issue / provides guidelines on how the issue can be fixed.
#3
Development Process
Software engineer follows the software development process end to end and
complied with all the protocols defined in the system.
Sr. Software engineer creates different processes and approaches in the
development ecosystem and creates a standard out of them so that the system is
maintainable
Software engineer learns
different processes by taking Knowledge Transfer sessions.
Sr. Software engineer gives the KT sessions to other engineers and trains
them to comply with the processes.
Software engineer tries to patch
the defects in the process and improves the system.
Sr. Software engineer invents an end-to-end process and also patches the
defects in it in the long run.
#4
Code Quality
Software engineer writes high-quality code that is tested and
bug-free.
Sr. Software engineer writes code that is tested with all edge cases and
covers a wide range of unit tests and integration tests. The code is often tested by examining
its
side-effects on other projects that are dependent.
Software engineer writes code
that complies with the requirements.
Sr. Software engineer reviews requirements and analyzes the feasibility,
testability, and legitimacy of the approach. If an alternative effective method is available,
the
senior engineer provides feedback to the strategist/designer to alter the
requirements.
Software engineer chooses the
best approach in the programming language to improve code-quality
Sr. Software engineer not only thinks about choosing best approaches in
the programming language but also tries to validate whether the libraries/dependencies used in
the
project are the right ones that provide compliance, the framework is enhanced to support the
requirement and the senior engineer makes code changes in the framework level if
required.
#5
Ownership
Software engineer partly takes ownership of the entire artifact/feature
that needs to be implemented.
Sr. Software engineer takes end - to - end ownership. Makes sure that
quality code is being written, well tested and is not breaking other workflows, and ensures
the
deployment of the artifact is successful.
Software engineer fixes bugs
and defects by complying with the requirements given,
Sr. Software engineer refers to the requirements written earlier and
makes sure that they are not broken. He then fixes the bug, builds and deploys the
application.
Software engineer often
makes statements such as "it is a tester's responsibility to test"
Sr. Software engineer tests the functionality ahead of putting the code
for review and doesn't hold the tester/validation engineer accountable for a defective
released
product. The senior engineer willingly fixes the defect that is found by the tester and takes
an
extra mile ensuring the integrity of the application/product.
#6
Mentorship
Software engineer usually receives mentorship and tries to mentor
other new developers in the team.
Sr. Software engineer regularly mentors software engineers, provides
them guidance on how to tackle a problem and given them enough information about a scenario
before
they start working on it.
Software engineer will try
to fix the problem if another engineer in the team is stuck with a road-block.
Sr. Software engineer tries to provide guidance / path to the engineer
who is stuck and tries to make them find a way out to fix the issue.
#7
Mentality
Software engineer complains to the management when asked to spend
extra hours for a task.
Sr. Software engineer generally avoids complaining and takes that
extra mile in the interest of getting work done.
Software engineer
doesn't want to take accountability of Testing and Deployment
Sr. Software engineer makes sure that there is enough collaboration
between the testing team and deployment team so that the issues are caught ahead of
releasing
a
product.
Software engineer tries
to deliver only the piece of work that is assigned to him/her.
Sr. Software engineer will ensure that other engineers are also able
to deliver their work by providing assistance throughout the project/process.
#8
Relationship
Software engineer occasionally has friction with the
Management.
Sr. Software engineer tries to avoid friction even if they are
100% right. (this is unfortunate but this is how the world works)
Software engineer
maintains a good relationship with all the team members.
Sr. Software engineer develops a good relationship with multiple
teams in the organization, This helps build rapport and these relationships lead to the
success of the project.
Software engineer asks
for good pay raise during the appraisal cycle.
Sr. Software engineer asks for more ownership and
responsibilities. This will eventually lead to a high pay scale raise as
well.
Conclusion:
If you are looking forward to becoming a senior engineer, get the mindset of taking up
more
responsibilities. Life ain't easy. It only gets harder. But as we grow in any industry,
our
skills get evolved as well and we tend to uplift ourselves to senior positions.
We need to keep evolving cuz that's what life is all about. We take newer, harder
challenges
and achieve them. Once we achieve them, we get that personal satisfaction. Once we get
personal satisfaction, we will be ready for the next level.
I hope this post has given you enough insights on how to improve yourself and get
promotion
next time.
Good luck.
If you found this
article
helpful, share it with your
friends.
#4
Code Quality
Software engineer writes high-quality code that is tested and
bug-free.Sr. Software engineer writes code that is tested with all edge cases and covers a wide range of unit tests and integration tests. The code is often tested by examining its side-effects on other projects that are dependent.
Software engineer writes code that complies with the requirements.
Sr. Software engineer reviews requirements and analyzes the feasibility, testability, and legitimacy of the approach. If an alternative effective method is available, the senior engineer provides feedback to the strategist/designer to alter the requirements.
Software engineer chooses the best approach in the programming language to improve code-quality
Sr. Software engineer not only thinks about choosing best approaches in the programming language but also tries to validate whether the libraries/dependencies used in the project are the right ones that provide compliance, the framework is enhanced to support the requirement and the senior engineer makes code changes in the framework level if required.
#5
Ownership
Software engineer partly takes ownership of the entire artifact/feature
that needs to be implemented.Sr. Software engineer takes end - to - end ownership. Makes sure that quality code is being written, well tested and is not breaking other workflows, and ensures the deployment of the artifact is successful.
Software engineer fixes bugs and defects by complying with the requirements given,
Sr. Software engineer refers to the requirements written earlier and makes sure that they are not broken. He then fixes the bug, builds and deploys the application.
Software engineer often makes statements such as "it is a tester's responsibility to test"
Sr. Software engineer tests the functionality ahead of putting the code for review and doesn't hold the tester/validation engineer accountable for a defective released product. The senior engineer willingly fixes the defect that is found by the tester and takes an extra mile ensuring the integrity of the application/product.
#6
Mentorship
Software engineer usually receives mentorship and tries to mentor
other new developers in the team.Sr. Software engineer regularly mentors software engineers, provides them guidance on how to tackle a problem and given them enough information about a scenario before they start working on it.
Software engineer will try to fix the problem if another engineer in the team is stuck with a road-block.
Sr. Software engineer tries to provide guidance / path to the engineer who is stuck and tries to make them find a way out to fix the issue.
#7
Mentality
Software engineer complains to the management when asked to spend
extra hours for a task.Sr. Software engineer generally avoids complaining and takes that extra mile in the interest of getting work done.
Software engineer doesn't want to take accountability of Testing and Deployment
Sr. Software engineer makes sure that there is enough collaboration between the testing team and deployment team so that the issues are caught ahead of releasing a product.
Software engineer tries to deliver only the piece of work that is assigned to him/her.
Sr. Software engineer will ensure that other engineers are also able to deliver their work by providing assistance throughout the project/process.
#8
Relationship
Software engineer occasionally has friction with the
Management.Sr. Software engineer tries to avoid friction even if they are 100% right. (this is unfortunate but this is how the world works)
Software engineer maintains a good relationship with all the team members.
Sr. Software engineer develops a good relationship with multiple teams in the organization, This helps build rapport and these relationships lead to the success of the project.
Software engineer asks for good pay raise during the appraisal cycle.
Sr. Software engineer asks for more ownership and responsibilities. This will eventually lead to a high pay scale raise as well.
Conclusion:
If you are looking forward to becoming a senior engineer, get the mindset of taking up more responsibilities. Life ain't easy. It only gets harder. But as we grow in any industry, our skills get evolved as well and we tend to uplift ourselves to senior positions.
We need to keep evolving cuz that's what life is all about. We take newer, harder challenges and achieve them. Once we achieve them, we get that personal satisfaction. Once we get personal satisfaction, we will be ready for the next level.
I hope this post has given you enough insights on how to improve yourself and get promotion next time.
Good luck.
If you found this article helpful, share it with your friends.