I was casually chatting with a coworker on Slack, I asked her for help with some credentials that were not working for a database her team maintains, she took ages to reply…
When she reply, she apologised for the delayed response and excused herself because she was doing some paperwork at her university. After solving the credentials issue, we started just talking…
Ouch! for the first time in my life I felt old!, pretty fucking old!
Double ouch!, I just left the conversation there…
Seriously, a wife and two kids and I didn’t feel old until someone brought up that I graduated from uni more than ten years ago. What does it mean being this age? what does it even mean being a Senior engineer? does it mean I can deal with complex problems, guide architectural decisions and mentor other engineers but can’t handle someone calling me old? moreover, did it really took me 10 years to reach the senior level?
I’ve got similar comments before… not related to age, things like “OMG you’re so funny, I wouldn’t guess you were married”, or “man… even with two kids you don’t lose your sense of humor” as if the older you get the less fun you’re supposed to have? is it how it really works? well… coding is fun and I’m doing less of that on my day to day work… am I supposed to quit laughing and make others laugh?
Being a Senior engineer means different things at different companies, I was a Senior Software Engineer at my previous role… when I joined my current company I was just a Software Engineer, the traits of a senior software engineer were just at a higher bar.
Putting engineering fly time aside, the experience in the industry or the ability to solve certain types of problem, I believe being senior also has to do with being able to handle office politics crap, deal with assholes and manage unfair situations without becoming a lake of tears in the process, after that much time I’ve seen so many things I’ve lost the capability of being impressed, to me is just another day in hell.
So… if I have to deal with assholes, do I have to be an asshole to others? is that what Seniors are supposed to do? well… if being senior means different things at different companies, maybe it can also mean different things to different people, ultimately, to me it means:
Seniority and tenure gives you leverage. Use it!