Being a senior means being responsible for all the things that you experienced as a junior. As a junior, you have fully-fleshed-out tasks assigned to you. Being a senior means being responsible for doing the fleshing-out, and also being responsible for coaching your juniors as they complete those tasks. If you are asked to assist in interviews, it's your responsibility to evaluate the candidate objectively, both quantitatively and qualitatively. If they're hired, you have a responsibility to help on-board them--to be someone they can ask questions of, and help them start contributing to the team as quickly as possible.
Being a senior also means being responsible for your own development, as a professional, as a mentor/leader, and as a person. I find myself consistently disappointed by so-called senior developers that are possessed of great technical skill, yet also suffer from a dearth of leadership/mentorship ability. In my experience, these types of seniors contribute little more to the team than a reasonably-skilled junior. In some cases, they can even be actively antagonistic, and have a negative affect on the team, both internally and externally.
I think part of the reason the transition from junior to mid to senior happens so quickly in software development is because it is easy to get started on the process of becoming a "senior". However, and again, this is my experience, it's a longer road from senior, to principal, to staff, to fellow. And this ignores the route into a team leader or even management role.
Being a senior means being responsible for all the things that you experienced as a junior. As a junior, you have fully-fleshed-out tasks assigned to you. Being a senior means being responsible for doing the fleshing-out, and also being responsible for coaching your juniors as they complete those tasks. If you are asked to assist in interviews, it's your responsibility to evaluate the candidate objectively, both quantitatively and qualitatively. If they're hired, you have a responsibility to help on-board them--to be someone they can ask questions of, and help them start contributing to the team as quickly as possible.
Being a senior also means being responsible for your own development, as a professional, as a mentor/leader, and as a person. I find myself consistently disappointed by so-called senior developers that are possessed of great technical skill, yet also suffer from a dearth of leadership/mentorship ability. In my experience, these types of seniors contribute little more to the team than a reasonably-skilled junior. In some cases, they can even be actively antagonistic, and have a negative affect on the team, both internally and externally.
I think part of the reason the transition from junior to mid to senior happens so quickly in software development is because it is easy to get started on the process of becoming a "senior". However, and again, this is my experience, it's a longer road from senior, to principal, to staff, to fellow. And this ignores the route into a team leader or even management role.
I really like your answer, I feel it touches on all the important points!
I have experienced those kinds of seniors from time to time, not that fun to work with!
Good answer, recently promoted senior. Finding it hard to deal with the ambiguity. I certainly lack some skills but trying to fill in the gaps.