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The one key skill I look for when judging seniority
How the ability to navigate ambiguity sets outstanding people apart
Recently, there has been a lot of discussion about the path to staff and above for software engineers. This is a subset of a larger discussion on judging whether someone can operate at a particular level of seniority. If we’re not careful, then we start using the scope as a proxy for this, which incentivises empire-building and stops people from tackling the gnarly problems that are going to make or break your business. If we judge based on impact, then we incentivise the creation (and manipulation) of vanity metrics.
Whenever I judge someone’s potential seniority, the skill I look for isn’t scope or impact. Both have their place in discussing whether someone deserves to be at a particular level within their job role, but neither is sufficient. What sets apart the very best people I’ve worked with is the ability to navigate ambiguity.
When you’re starting your career, the problem posed to you is often, “can we do this?” From a technical perspective, this is a good way of judging people as they begin their careers. You give them a problem (and maybe some guidance) and see whether they can solve it.
