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    Swizec's articles in the "senior" category

    I aim to write mindblowing emails with real insight into the career and skills of a modern software engineer. "Raw and honest from the heart!" as one reader described them.

    Below are 30 articles filed under senior. Enjoy ❤️

    What being an expert looks like

    The blue sweater scene in 'Devil Wears Prada' is a masterclass in expertise

    Let juniors speak first

    Want an engaged engineering team? Let juniors speak first.

    What to put on your resumé

    Position yourself as an expert and stand out in the job market

    Working with product

    A strong partnership with product is key to an enjoyable engineering life

    A lesson on expertise from a great mafia movie

    You cannot make something good until you understand who you're making it for.

    Be their shit umbrella

    because if you go to bat for the team, the team goes to bat for you

    What to do when bugs are whack-a-mole

    What do you do when every bug you fix creates 5 new bugs? You could laugh and move on, or realize it's a sign of bigger issues

    When it’s okay to work overtime

    Not all overtime is bad overtime

    What's more productive, a team or a talented soloist?

    Engineers *hate it* when you say it doesn't matter how good they are because a team will outcode them any day. But it's true, you can't build something big on your own.

    Meetings – a senior engineer's secret weapon

    Boo meetings, yay code, right? There comes a time in your career when coding is no longer your highest impact contribution. Might even be holding you back. 🙊

    A great engineer knows their tools

    Earlier in my career when I thought I was god's gift to engineering but wasn't, I failed one of those stupid interview questions that "have nothing to do with the work". It was a great question.

    How to ask for help

    what makes a senior engineer stand out in an interview? No it's not the amount of side projects or their leetcoding speed. It's knowing how and when to ask for help.

    Reader question: "When do you fix tech debt?"

    Long time reader Phil asks when do you fix the tech debt you used to ship faster. Heroic efforts don't work. The real answer is "always" – a mindset of gardening.

    Tech debt is a tool

    If your house was on fire, would you mow the lawn first?

    What I learned from Software Engineering at Google

    When I first picked up Software Engineering at Google I thought it was another one of those FAANG books full of lessons that make no sense at human scale. I was surprised, lessons apply to teams as small as 5.

    How to own projects like a senior engineer

    The best skill you can learn is ownership. The second best is to let go.

    Why you need a positioning statement

    High value experts use positioning statements to say what they do for whom. Most engineers don't have one. 🤨

    What matters in a senior engineer job interview

    Degree matters if you have nothing better to show, consulting and BigTech backgrounds are negative, too many seniors can't code.

    Your luck & opportunity surface area

    Here's a comment that resonated yesterday and you might like. It's about how to maximize the opportunity in your work.

    Why you can't find an engineering coach

    Wanna learn boxing? Join a gym, find a coach. Tennis player with a kink in your game? Find a coach. Software engineer with a missing skill? Google, random blogs, fun newsletters, dubious podcasts, noise on twitter 🤨

    Why senior engineers get nothing done

    You start a new job and it's amazing. Code all day, clear objectives, easy guidelines, ship a bunch of features be a hero. Then something happens and suddenly you get nothing done. 🤔

    Why engineers are worth so much

    Engineers don't do the day to day work, they build assets the business can exploit for years to come. That's the magic

    What a hockey legend can teach you about career development

    Say your boss gives you $1000 to grow your career. What do you do?

    What makes you a senior software engineer anyway?

    I used to think a senior engineer was someone who gets a project, understands the context, puts their head down, and gets it done. But no. A senior engineer does so much more than just write code and design systems.

    How resumé-driven development shapes our industry

    All that once was new is old again

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