Recently, while going over my resume, I began reminiscing of my previous work experience. During my time at a previous job I had been a technical lead. I spent my time designing features, organizing and cleaning the code base, and mentoring other engineers. Unfortunately, my experience level was equal, if not less, than those around me and I had little experience being mentored to and therefore knew little about being a mentor.
My current job requires a lot from me, and while I’m not treated as a junior, I’m certainly not the senior dev in any room. This job has given me a lot of experience in technology, approaches, designs, and mentorship that would have taken me years longer to learn on my own.
My point is this, if you find you’re the ‘senior dev’ in the room. Maybe check to see if you’re really ready for that role. If you, like me, feel like you still have a lot to learn. Find smart (and if you can, smarter) people to work around.
