Hey everyone! I work at a really small company, so I don't have a clear engineering career ladder to refer to. I'm trying to understand the typical responsibilities and expectations at each "Year of Experience" milestone within the industry. If you were hiring or assessing a developer, what does that progression look like for you?
For example:
- 1 Year: (Handling small tasks, learning the codebase, lots of PR oversight)
- 2 Years: (Taking ownership of medium-sized features, gaining more independence, maybe starting to question requirements?)
- 3 Years: (Working independently, mentoring junior staff, considering architecture ideas?)
- 4 Years: .....
Also, for those of you who changed jobs after 2 or 3 years: what were the biggest differences in expectations you encountered? I'm trying to gauge if I'm on the right path or if I'm lagging behind. Thanks!
4 Answers
Your description of 3 years of experience sounds a lot like what I think a senior developer or even application architect role entails, which typically is more around the 8+ years of experience mark.
Wow, it sounds like in my first job, I was already handling responsibilities typical of a senior position.
There's actually not a strong connection between years of experience and the ability to fulfill those roles—experience doesn't always equate to skill in every area.
Your take on the YoE ladder seems pretty accurate for smaller companies where everyone wears multiple hats. I've seen some places where the growth path isn't clearly defined after a while, but generally, your steps align with what I’ve observed too. You might want to check out some resources like Revorian to get a better idea of common career progressions across various companies and roles.
What does it look like in larger tech companies?