Hello Everyone! After a period of absence from writing, I'm back, trying to get back into the swing of things. I want to emphasize that the experiences shared in this space are based on my academic and professional experiences. Therefore, it is important to remember that what is described here may only represent a fraction of reality and should not be interpreted as a definitive formula for specific processes, procedures or services.
I am currently very excited about this new phase of my career. I have learned a lot and would like to share some of this journey with the community. I hope that the information presented here will be of great value to readers.
People First - The importance of Soft Skills
When I participated in my first selection process, a few years ago, I clearly remember the almost boring steps I went through: interview with HR, practical test, interview with the technical leader and, finally, interview with the manager. Throughout my career as a developer, I have participated in several interviews with different models. At that time, I always felt uncomfortable interviewing with HR people. I didn’t quite understand why, thinking: “If I can do what is required in the technical test, I am already showing enough competence for the position.”
When I took on my role as technical development leader, one of my responsibilities was to collaborate with HR (yes, the same people with whom I didn't understand the reason for participating in the selection process) in preparing a technical test and defining the interview format for two candidates starting in the backend area. I thought I already knew what a beginner developer in the backend area should deliver and what would be considered a differentiator in the test. However, what I didn't expect was that, despite the importance of the code, other demands arose beyond project delivery: *how to evaluate candidates in terms of communication? What is their interest in the position? And how can the context they present influence their suitability for the proposed position? These and other questions turned out to be as relevant as the code presented by both candidates, something I had not previously considered in my early years as a developer. *
I remember sitting at the meeting table to make the final decision and being a little surprised to realize how little was discussed about each candidate's technical skills. Part of this was due to the fact that they were entry-level candidates, so it was to be expected that their technical skills would not be as developed, and this was not the main focus of the discussion.
However, even for more advanced vacancies, especially for senior-level positions, it is crucial to consider skills such as communication, documentation, adaptability, proactivity and other skills often mentioned. These soft skills are fundamental and can be decisive for success in the role, in addition to technical skills. In fact, this is my next point.
The line between Junior and Senior (No, not mid-level).
I know there's a lot of discussion about the meaning and classification of terms related to experience levels, like "senior." Some say that "senior is defined by years of experience", others claim that "in some companies, you gain senior experience after a year". There are also those who say that "there is no clear distinction between junior and senior" or that "seniors only do code reviews and approve PRs". Some of these statements are comical, others have a grain of truth. The fact is that the concept of "senior" is quite varied and it is not up to me to define a universal standard, but I can offer some guidance to understand this classification in a more individual way.
Being a senior is not just about technical knowledge, although this is undoubtedly very important. A true senior, or at least a good senior, is someone capable of solving complex problems in terms of both code and systems architecture. Maintaining code quality, following good development practices and having knowledge of project management are crucial aspects.
The key difference is that a senior must be able to execute all of this autonomously and, more importantly, collaborate with teams from different levels and sectors to deliver the best project possible. Furthermore, a real senior (or at least the best ones) not only leads and guides the team, but also develops and prepares other developers to take on new positions and responsibilities.
My first experience leading a project
When I took on my first project, my boss knew that I hadn't previously led any other project. I just participated in the development and worked out some things that would facilitate development in terms of communication with management. The first question he asked me was: "How many people and what kind of will be enough to complement the project." I didn't know the answer right away, it was a very complex question. Because the project was only in the outline, we had no idea of the stack, how much time it would take to complete each task and other metrics of interest to the people above. I did a complete study to be able to deliver the next day on several project management methodologies: Pert, Planning Poker We collaboratively chose the one that was best suited and the challenge began. for each member of the team, what is the best development platform, what is the best stack to use, how the system architecture will work, studying other solutions on the market, monitoring the level of each developer, meetings, meetings and more meetings with the management.
When I least realized it, I was increasingly distant from the code. My role became to suggest improvements and fix some critical bugs so that the project could work, or at least provide a solid foundation for the developers to start. The rest of the work involved communicating with the developers, dividing tasks, monitoring of metrics and, basically, one eye on Asana (to estimate project delivery time) and another on Meet to make sure my microphone wasn't on and nothing unwanted was "accidentally" slipped through.
Conclusion and a look at the past - to the master with affection
I started my career as a development intern and, interestingly — and you might find it a little contradictory on my part — I didn't have any concrete experiences (at least not formally recorded in my employment record) that would classify me as a junior, full or senior developer. Much of the experience I gained came from personal projects and research at college. It was a gradual process until I realized that my skills had evolved since those early days.
But yes, I worked intensely as a developer at different levels and had the opportunity to meet different types of senior professionals throughout my career:
- The very competent and effective senior, but uncommunicative, who solved problems without providing explanations about his approach.
- The senior is excellent at communication and teaching, but often overwhelmed with urgent tasks and no time to teach.
- The senior who was enthusiastic about over-engineering and centralizing technology, but who met deadlines and delivered what he promised.
The most important thing is that, despite their justifiable flaws (although it is possible, it is very difficult to balance demands), all of these professionals had something valuable to teach. These experiences helped shape my career and gave me a clear view of what works and what doesn't in systems development.
Top comments (37)
Thank you for sharing your experience with being a tech lead! It's really helpful to see a detailed breakdown of the process. I highly related to all these as a tech lead myself. I wish you all good things in your journey :)
Hello, thank you very much for the feedback. Good to know that what I wrote made sense :D
Haha, it did. The role took me some getting used to as well, but you get better with time. :)
Thank you so much for sharing! This helped me alot to ease my newgrounds anxiety.
I'm a senior frontend dev who had no team for most of my years of experience, and just became a lead with 2 jr devs in my team, i gradually converted from senior 1 - as you have mentioned - to senior 2, and now I'm trying to balance between 2 and 3.
I'm glad my writing helped you!
Such a good article! I had a lot of feelings reading about your experience and could put myself in your shoes. I never became a true senior developer and today, as a team leader, I sometimes have this empty feeling inside.
Hey, as we say here in Brazil: muito obrigado! I have to tell you that it's a completely normal feeling and I'm sure many colleagues in the field share the same thing we feel.
I'm glad you mention the importance of soft skills. In any organization it is very challenging to steer the ship if there's miscommunication between various people. Software is especially difficult because we are constantly dealing with different layers of abstraction, which absolutely comes up when communicating/figuring out requirements between developers, marketing, design, etc.
Awesome article, really enjoyed it! It was insightful.
Thank you for sharing it.
This is great!
Mh in your conclusion I hoped that you will give a sneak peak about the next steps or what do with your insights.
So what should I do as a tech lead. Create a team that is in balance with those characters? Pairing the teaching senior with the code grunt and let them watch by the deadline guy?
Your article is great. I am eager to read more of that.
Yeah, good to know that you liked the article! These are good suggestions that can be taken to another part talking about how to manage everything you said. This is perhaps one of the most present challenges in the life of a tech lead.
Wow, I have really learnt a lot from you sir. And I wish you could be my Trainer.
Currently, I'm not a college graduate and honestly, communication is my challenge.. I try to code and deliver on time but.. I don't know how to present my projects in the midst of people.
That's my challenge...
So because of this. I am jobless..
Hey, the journey is a little difficult but with people by our side we can overcome it. Feel free to contact me using the contact details on my dev.to profile!
Ty for share your xp!
Actually I have a little doubt about my future inside programming. I'm communicative, I love to share my knowllege and I like to manager people, but I love to code xD
Thanks for sharing!
Hello @sampseiol1
Great article, thank you for sharing with others.
How do ensure that you are updated with new trends in your field, or does it even require being a PL.
Hi, great to know that you liked the post! The way I stay up to date on topics in the area is usually through connections or knowledge that is provided at three points: university, company and internet blogs. the important thing is that you filter what is interesting and what is best is an evolution of what you do.
Hello Lucas Matheus ,
thanks for your article!
In my opinion it is easy to read and insightful.
Hey Akin, thank you so much!
Thank you for sharing your experience! It is indeed valuable for young developers like us who are trying to grow in this tech environment.
Thank you very much for your comment, reading things like this fills my heart with joy. I wish you lots of positivity in your career.
Thanks, Lucas! I loved reading about your experience and learned a bit about the behind-the-scenes of the life of a Tech Lead. It's pretty interesting and daunting at the same time. Cool. 💯
Hi Ayush, thank you very much! Good to know that my insights were interesting to you!
Such a nice sharing of experience!😇
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