What Every Senior Engineer Learns Too Late

The lessons I wish someone had told me years ago — before I wasted years optimizing the wrong things and solving the wrong problems

I thought being senior meant being the best coder. Writing the cleanest code. Architecting the most elegant systems. Knowing all the design patterns.

I was completely wrong about what the job actually was.

Five years later, after leading several failed projects, burning out twice, and watching junior engineers get promoted past me, I finally understood: being a senior engineer has almost nothing to do with code.

This is what I wish someone had told me on day one.

Lesson 1: Your Job Is Communication, Not Code

Here’s what I thought my job was earlier:

• Write excellent code
• Review code thoroughly
• Architect systems elegantly
• Mentor junior developers (when I had time)

Here’s what my job actually was:

• Make sure the team is building the right thing
• Ensure everyone understands the tradeoffs
• Unblock people constantly
• Make decisions when there’s no obvious right answer
• Communicate context up and down the org