What does "Senior Software Developer" mean?

Question

When someone tells you that they're a "Senior Software Developer @ XYZ Corp." , what do they really mean:

1. They've done many jobs of that type before
2. They're actually senior by age to other developers
3. They just aced a really tough interview

Answer 1

That depends on the definition that the company he works for gives him, so it's subjective.

In our company, for someone to have earned this title, it means he's a seasoned developer with experience and a proven track record of being trusted, and good at what he does. The title has little to do with age or seniority, and more to do with skill and maturity.

Answer 2

It generally refers to a Software Developer that has a lot of experience (which can come with age) and differentiates the developer from a "Junior" developer. In larger companies/teams, people like to have differentiating job titles and show some kind of natural heriarchy. Most of the time Senior developers have earned that title through experience.

Answer 3

To me, it can be a combination of a few things:

1. They've been there longer compared to some other team members.
2. They have more experience (might also imply age).
3. They have more responsibilities, such as managing project, instead of day-to-day "grunt" work.
4. They have a say in the direction of the projects, if not the company's.

But again, depending on the company they are working for, the job description will vary.

Answer 4

It means that their employer considers them either:

• more experienced in the technology than their coworkers
• suitably experienced with a longer tenure than their coworkers
• paid a salary that puts them in the 'senior developer' bracket

or all of the above.

Answer 5

It is all about the money, read this, find the place where you are, and decide if you are one of them :)

And this question should be community wiki, i believe.

Answer 6

The age of the developer itself does not make anyone 'Senior'. It may happen that someone is being a 'senior software engineer/developer' and someone else (a little bit older) is just a 'software developer'. The type of interview also should not make any difference. The difference should be experience. I think people usually are being considered as a senior software devs when having 5+ commercial (full-time) experience.

Answer 7

It means virtually NOTHING unless you know the context of the company they work for.

Typically, it is a prefix that matches pay scale or experience and starts at associate, to staff, to senior, to lead, to principle, to head.

Practically speaking, you can't expect to match it up with technical competence. Some people are really into titles but I would prefer fewer meaningless titles myself.

I think that in the best of all possible worlds, one's title would be one's name.

Answer 8

In general, it's meaningless. See The Senior System Administrators.

In some companies it may have very specific meanings, but you'd need to have a deep understanding of that particular company's corporate culture.