Are You Ready for a Senior Role?

Moving from being a mid level engineer a senior role can feel like a huge leap--especially when your new responsibilities aren't well defined. What does it mean to embrace a senior role? It's not just about experience and years on the job; it's an entire mindset shift.

Jenny Bramble, Director of Quality Engineering, takes a step back from formal job descriptions to talk about what she looks for in rising senior engineers including how we approach assessing risk, how we work to empower and lead others, and how our impact changes as we mature in our roles. By generalizing the senior mindset, you can apply these ideas to any type of role.

You'll leave this talk with a clearer picture on what seniors are often asked to do and how we can start building a senior mindset as early as possible in our careers. Most off, you'll be prepared to answer: Am I ready for a senior role?

Transcript

1. Jenny Bramble
   Are You Ready for
   a Senior Role?
   Director of Quality Engineerin
   g
   
   Papa
   @jennydoesthings
   

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2. I have been many things—a rabbit farmer, a mushroom seller,
   a goth, a tester
   …
   
   And now I’m a hiring manager as the
   
   
   Director of Quality Engineering at Papa.
   About Me
   @jennydoesthings
   

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3. I’ve been trying to
   answer the
   question ‘what is
   a senior engineer’
   for a long time.
   @jennydoesthings
   

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4. What I’ve come to is
   that it’s a mindset
   that encourages
   risk-aware, cross-
   functional
   collaboration.
   @jennydoesthings
   

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5. Here’s a quick
   table that’s a
   TL;DR of the
   rest of the talk.
   @jennydoesthings
   

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6. Radford Levels
   P1 P2 P3 P4 P5
   Associate
   /
   
   Entry
   Career
   /
   
   Mid-level
   Senior
   /
   
   Mid-level
   Staff
   /
   
   Senior
   Principal
   /
   
   Senior
   Learns about rope
   Can tie basic
   knot
   s
   
   Show complex
   knots
   Calculates rope
   strengt
   h
   
   Knows a lot about
   knots
   Understands rope
   making
   Knows more about
   rope than you ever
   will
   Aware of their own
   work
   Aware of the
   effects of their
   work on the team
   Aware of the
   effects of team's
   work on other
   teams/company
   Works on
   problems of limited
   scope.
   Capable of
   working
   independently but
   needs regular
   input
   Work is done
   indpentantly and
   reviewed at critical
   moments.
   Work is reviewed
   on completion.
   Can be given
   vague direction.
   @jennydoesthings
   

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7. Agenda
   Areas of
   evaluation
   What does it
   mean to be entry
   level?
   What does it mean
   to be mid-level?
   01 02 03
   @jennydoesthings
   

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8. Getting there
   What does it
   mean to be
   senior?
   How do we
   get there?
   05
   04
   Agenda
   @jennydoesthings
   

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9. Areas of Evaluation
   01
   @jennydoesthings
   

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10. Tooling
    The day-to-day things
    that you use to do
    your job—or do it
    better.
    How create your
    output and engage
    recommended
    practices.
    The probability that
    something will go
    wrong and the impact
    if it does.
    Areas of Evaluation
    Methodology Risk
    @jennydoesthings
    

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11. Crucial
    Conversations
    Discussions where the
    sakes are high,
    opinions vary, and
    emotions run strong.
    Guiding or being
    guided by others in
    the company in a
    formal or informal way.
    The ability and desire
    to increase your skills
    and the skills of your
    teammates.
    Areas of Evaluation
    Mentorship Learning
    @jennydoesthings
    

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12. There are more
    things that are
    important but they
    aren’t core to
    developing the
    senior mindset.
    @jennydoesthings
    

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13. Okay, let’s talk about
    how this plays out at
    different levels.
    @jennydoesthings
    

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14. What does it mean
    to be entry level?
    02
    @jennydoesthings
    

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15. Aware of their own work
    Work on tasks that are given to them
    Dependent on others to be successful
    Being introduced to their career
    @jennydoesthings
    

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16. Tooling
    Learning to apply
    given tools to given
    problems.
    Introduced to industry
    methodology and how
    we respond to
    situations.
    Recognizes risks
    when they are
    identified.
    Entry Level Expectations
    Methodology Risk
    @jennydoesthings
    

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17. Crucial
    Conversations
    Participates in crucial
    conversations with
    support in a safe
    environment.
    Is an active mentee,
    taking interest in their
    career growth and
    short-term goals.
    Eager to enrich
    themselves and
    consumes resources
    that relate to their
    current tasks.
    Entry Level Expectations
    Mentorship Learning
    @jennydoesthings
    

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18. What does it mean
    to be mid-level?
    03
    @jennydoesthings
    

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19. Aware of the effects of their work on the team
    Work on tasks that are important to the team
    Less dependent on others to be successful
    Starting to specialize in their field
    @jennydoesthings
    

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20. Tooling
    Seeks out tools to
    enhance their work
    and learning when to
    apply different tools.
    Applies methodology
    and recommended
    practices to situations.
    Actively seeks out
    new practices.
    Identifies risks and
    mitigations on a
    feature and team
    level.
    Mid-Level Expectations
    Methodology Risk
    @jennydoesthings
    

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21. Crucial
    Conversations
    Works towards leading
    crucial conversations
    with support in a safe
    environment.
    Is an active mentee,
    taking interest in their
    career growth and
    longer-term career goals
    .
    
    Informally mentors
    others.
    Building skills in their
    primary discipline or
    platform while
    becoming more aware
    of related disciplines.
    Mid-Level Expectations
    Mentorship Learning
    @jennydoesthings
    

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22. What does it mean
    to be senior?
    04
    @jennydoesthings
    

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23. Aware of the effects of their work on the company
    Guides the work of other team members
    Others are dependent on them to be successful
    Shows deep knowledge and experience in their field
    @jennydoesthings
    

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24. Tooling
    Recommends and
    creates tooling that
    fulfills the needs of the
    team and company.
    Actively recommends
    and contributes to
    methodology and
    practices common to
    the industry.
    Looks at risk from a
    project and company
    level. Proactively
    mitigates risks across
    teams.
    Senior Expectations
    Methodology Risk
    @jennydoesthings
    

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25. Crucial
    Conversations
    Leads crucial
    conversations and
    supports others in
    their conversations.
    Provides deep
    mentorship to others
    including career path
    and sharing
    experience.
    Helps other members
    of the team learn by
    providing and creating
    resources.
    Senior Expectations
    Mentorship Learning
    @jennydoesthings
    

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26. Getting there.
    05
    @jennydoesthings
    

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27. Moving into the
    Senior Mindset
    @jennydoesthings
    

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28. Aware of the effects of their work on the company
    • How does the work your team is doing impact
    the company
    ?
    
    • Are there ways that your work interacts with
    other teams
    ?
    
    • What should other teams know about the
    work you’re doing
    ?
    
    Behaviors:
    
    
    • Communicating with other team
    s
    
    • Keeping people informe
    d
    
    • Bringing the right people into conversation
    s
    
    • Understanding the implications of the work.\
    @jennydoesthings
    

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29. Guides the work of other team members
    • This is not about telling other people what
    to do or ordering them about
    .
    
    • This is an extension of mentorship.
    
    
    Behaviors
    :
    
    • Collaborating on the best way to build,
    maintain, and conceptualize softwar
    e
    
    • Sharing experience and knowledg
    e
    
    • Working though problems, not just solving
    things alone
    @jennydoesthings
    

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30. Others are dependent on them to be successful
    • This does not mean that the senior is
    irreplaceable
    .
    
    • It speaks to the ability of the senior to
    help work happen
    .
    
    Behaviors
    :
    
    • Is available to the team to answer
    questions and move work forwar
    d
    
    • Communicates blockers and helps to
    remove blockers for the team
    @jennydoesthings
    

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31. Shows deep knowledge and experience in their field
    • This is where you can start talking about time
    in roles
    .
    
    • Having seen many things means you have a
    lot of tools in your toolbox to respond to
    situations
    .
    
    Behaviors
    :
    
    • Has worked with a range of people on a
    range of projects
    .
    
    • Recognizes situations and applies their
    experience or finds someone with experience
    to consult.
    @jennydoesthings
    

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32. Tooling
    • Be aware of the available tools in your
    disciplin
    e
    
    • Be able to implement tool
    s
    
    • Potentially be able to create tooling as
    neede
    d
    
    Behaviors
    :
    
    • Bring tools to discussion
    s
    
    • Advocate for tools but keep an open min
    d
    
    • Create tooling or assist in the creation of
    tooling
    @jennydoesthings
    

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33. Methodology
    • Be aware of the currently accepted
    recommended practice
    s
    
    • Have deep knowledge about
    methodolog
    y
    
    Behaviors
    :
    
    • Bring recommended practices to
    discussion
    s
    
    • Work to bring legacy software in line with
    recommended practice
    s
    
    • Suggest methodology for the team
    @jennydoesthings
    

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34. Risk
    • Understand the role risk plays in software
    at all level
    s
    
    Behaviors
    :
    
    • Open discussions of features and projects
    with the risk
    s
    
    • Talk about not just building but building
    well and safel
    y
    
    • Bring mitigations to the team for identified
    risks
    @jennydoesthings
    

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35. Crucial Conversations
    • It’s important to be able to have difficult
    conversations and support others in
    them
    .
    
    Behaviors
    :
    
    • Be judiciously oppositional
    .
    
    • When someone needs to have a crucial
    conversation, support them by giving
    advice or agreeing in public
    .
    
    • Have empathy.
    @jennydoesthings
    

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36. Mentorship
    • Help others members of the team be
    good citizens of the software industry
    .
    
    Behaviors
    :
    
    • Do your fit and finish
    .
    
    • Participate and lead code reviews
    .
    
    • Meet with members of the team who need
    help
    .
    
    • Speak in encouraging ways.
    @jennydoesthings
    

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37. Learning
    • Continually increase the knowledge of the
    team and company
    .
    
    Behaviors
    :
    
    • Read and share material
    s
    
    • Keep an eye on the pulse of the industr
    y
    
    • Share things about upcoming
    improvements, enhancements, and
    issue
    s
    
    • Help others find resources
    @jennydoesthings
    

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38. Radford Levels
    P1 P2 P3 P4 P5
    Associate
    /
    
    Entry
    Career
    /
    
    Mid-level
    Senior
    /
    
    Mid-level
    Staff
    /
    
    Senior
    Principal
    /
    
    Senior
    Learns about rope
    Can tie basic
    knot
    s
    
    Show complex
    knots
    Calculates rope
    strengt
    h
    
    Knows a lot about
    knots
    Understands rope
    making
    Knows more about
    rope than you ever
    will
    Aware of their own
    work
    Aware of the
    effects of their
    work on the team
    Aware of the
    effects of team's
    work on other
    teams/company
    Works on
    problems of limited
    scope.
    Capable of
    working
    independently but
    needs regular
    input
    Work is done
    indpentantly and
    reviewed at critical
    moments.
    Work is reviewed
    on completion.
    Can be given
    vague direction.
    @jennydoesthings
    

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39. Questions?
    @jennydoesthings
    

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40. jenny.bramble@gmail.com
    http://twitter.com/jennydoesthings
    https://linkedin.com/in/
    jennybramble
    http://jennydoesthings.com
    Papa!
    

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41. @jennydoesthings
    

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