Leveling up from Software Engineer to Senior Software Engineer

Posted on 06 Sep, 2023

I recently had a 1-1 conversation with my manager about my career growth and what I need to do to level up from Software Engineer to Senior Software Engineer. I am sharing my notes from the conversation here.

Note that the following points shouldn't be considered as a "checklist" but rather as a "framework" to think about your career growth.

What are the things that you need to do to become a Senior Software Engineer?

• Take the ownership of the project. Do the whole thing on your own.

• Helping fellow team members. Mentoring them. You are the one making strategies and decisions.

• Solve large problems.

• While breaking out a problem, think about what are some things that you would have needed if you were to solve the problem as a "software engineer".

• Try to mimic the role of a "tech lead" in your team. Assume the role you want to be in.