A presentation at Penguicon in in Southfield, MI, USA by Anne Cahalan
Muddling Through The Middle Bits: What comes after junior
but before senior @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
Who am I? ! I'm Anne! ! iOS Developer ! Former Junior Developer @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
Who are you? ! Junior Devs @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
Who are you? ! Junior Devs ! Senior Devs @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
Who are you? ! Junior Devs ! Senior Devs ! Mid-career Devs @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
! Sharing Circle ! @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
How I Stopped Being A Junior Developer: ❓ ❔
❓ @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
Why Are We Here? ! @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
The Dip ! @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
! I'm generally happy in my job @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
! I'm generally happy in my job ! Someone else at Labs cares about my success @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
! I'm generally happy in my job ! Someone else at Labs cares about my success ! I'm appropriately recognized and rewarded @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
! But Why? ! @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
! A Clue! ! @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
! Start Here ⤵
Some Milestone ⤵
$ Another Milestone ⤵ % More Milestones ⤵ & Retire to Fiji @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
! Start Here
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$
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%
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' ! Some Milestone @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
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" ! Some Milestone
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⬇ ...
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@northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
From ⛰ To ! @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
! This is interesting ➡ Junior Devs ➡ Senior Devs ➡ ...other? @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
⌨ Survey Time @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
Senior ? @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
! "Speak up more" ! "Don't be afraid to argue" ! "We didn't get your input" ! "Be more comfortable making and challenging decisions" @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
Junior devs find power in questions Mid-career devs find power in answers @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
Time to release the suck @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
Let your questions change @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
❓ "
➡
❓ ... $ @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
Junior devs: how Mid-career devs: what Senior devs: why @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
! The Bank Of Experience ! @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
⏳ Time ⌛ @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
You need to screw up ! worked there, so it will probably work here @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
You need to screw up ! worked there, so it will probably work here We should definitely do ! with this, " is a disaster @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
You need to screw up ! worked there, so it will probably work here We should definitely do ! with this, " is a disaster Nevermind ! , what we need is an "
@northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
You need to screw up ! worked there, so it will probably work here We should definitely do ! with this, " is a disaster Nevermind ! , what we need is an "
...Okay, sometimes ! , sometimes " . It depends. @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
! ! @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
!
" " " " " " "
! !
" " " " " " "
@northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
! ! ! ! ! ! @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
This is when we lose women and people of color @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
32% of women in tech feel stalled in their career and plan on leaving within the next year. 1 1 Hewlett, Sylvia Anne, and Laura Sherbin. Athena Factor 2.0: Accelerating Female Talent in Science, Engineering, and Technology. 2014, talentinnovation.org. @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
48% of black women in tech feel stalled in their career. 2 2 Hewlett, Sylvia Anne, and Laura Sherbin. Athena Factor 2.0: Accelerating Female Talent in Science, Engineering, and Technology. 2014, talentinnovation.org. @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
56% of women will leave their tech career during the middle career stage 2 2 Hewlett, Sylvia Anne, and Laura Sherbin. Athena Factor 2.0: Accelerating Female Talent in Science, Engineering, and Technology. 2014, talentinnovation.org. @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
@northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
!
57% of all professional occupations !
25% of computing occupations 2 2 Hewlett, Sylvia Anne, and Laura Sherbin. Athena Factor 2.0: Accelerating Female Talent in Science, Engineering, and Technology. 2014, talentinnovation.org. @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
! 3% Latina women ! 1% African American women 2 2 Hewlett, Sylvia Anne, and Laura Sherbin. Athena Factor 2.0: Accelerating Female Talent in Science, Engineering, and Technology. 2014, talentinnovation.org. @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
! @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
Mentorship Doesn't Work @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
!
! !
" @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
Stereotype Threat @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
☎ The Call Is Coming From Inside The House @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
!
"
@northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
! vs "
" @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
From ! To ! @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
Junior devs need to build trust in others Mid-career devs need to build trust in ourselves @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
! vs ➡
➡ @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
! ! " ! @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
How do? @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
Release The Suck Change Your Questions Build Your Bank Of Experience Drive Through Ohio Guide Others @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
! @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
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" < > northofnormal @northofnormal * Detroit Labs * she/her
There’s a ton of advice out there for junior developers: how to grow your skills, how to contribute effectively without a lot of experience, how to ask good questions. Likewise, there’s a lot of good advice for senior developers on how lead and mentor effectively and how to leverage their knowledge and experience. Left out are the people in between those two extremes: the developers who aren’t junior anymore, but haven’t risen to truly “senior developer” status.How do you get from junior to senior? Perhaps it's just a matter of time: Junior Dev + 5 years = Senior Dev? Is it some combination of depth and breadth of knowledge? Are team skills or technical ones the most important in this transition? How do you know you've crossed into senior territory? For that matter, how do you know you're no longer a junior? Let’s explore this squishy middle area, its landmarks and signposts, and try to find a personalized map of the mid-career.
for free. You
can too.