Tag Archives: middle

Episode 43

While browsing job offers in software development, you can often encounter words like “junior”, “middle”, “regular”, “senior”, “lead” or “principal”. What do they actually mean? Correct answer, as usual, is: it depends. The idea of job grades, pay grades, tiers or seniority levels seems to be quite subjective, depending on job market situation, country, company, technology and if HR people have a good day or not. Let’s explore the subject and try to find some answers. I will reach for some metaphors and analogies to help with this endeavor.

Assuming that software development is a single monolithic skill, which is a thick approximation, we can ask an essential question – how to grade one’s skill. There are quite a few approaches, let’s dive into some of them.

Pay grade

Typical corporate breakdown you can find out there, is “junior” / “middle” / “senior”. Many companies add another level above, usually called “lead”, “principal” or “staff” and sometimes a level below, like “intern”. One corporation had once a Read the rest of this entry »