--- title: How many years to senior engineer? | daily.dev description: Swizec Teller: Years isn't it Years is a bad metric. It can be a decent proxy, if you have no other information, but what you're looking for is some sort of... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/how-many-years-to-senior-engineer--1kwrwwjet twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: How many years to senior engineer? | daily.dev og:description: Swizec Teller: Years isn't it Years is a bad metric. It can be a decent proxy, if you have no other information, but what you're looking for is some sort of... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/how-many-years-to-senior-engineer--1kwrwwjet og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/1KWRWWjET.png og:image:alt: How many years to senior engineer? og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # How many years to senior engineer? **[swizec.com](https://daily.dev/sources/swizec)** · 3 min read · 109 upvotes · 15 comments ## Summary Swizec Teller: Years isn't it Years is a bad metric. It can be a decent proxy, if you have no other information, but what you're looking for is some sort of wisdom. Experienced engineers ask really weird questions that help them prune that decision tree in their mind in large swathes. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Community discussion Top comments from developers on daily.dev. **@rumncode** · 6 upvotes > I made senior in 3 years, but thats very advanced IMO. I also spend a LOT of time on my own, researching my tech stack, checking out other tech stacks, watching videos on youtube about how to be better at my job, reading blogs, etc. I dedicate the time, put in the effort, and honed my craft. Compare that to just working the 40 hours a week and calling it good, would take a lot longer **@varactor** · 3 upvotes > Great Performance, passion to learn, a good drive, and a good company that the engineer fits in are a great addition to the minimum requirements explained in this article. This was a good read thanks! **@javasenorita** · 2 upvotes > After over a hundred interviews I can tell if the person is senior after 30 mins of conversation. > It is really what developer say, which situations he/she refers to and decisions made. > Seniority is also about taking responsibility for the solution you deliver. **@systemdesign1** · 0 upvotes > I think there is no formula for it. It depends on: > > - Company > - Your manager > - Your soft skills > - Your technical skills > - Competition **@justindavis83** · 0 upvotes > Great article for sure! --- Tags: [#react](https://daily.dev/tags/react), [#serverless](https://daily.dev/tags/serverless) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/how-many-years-to-senior-engineer--1kwrwwjet) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"How many years to senior engineer?","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/how-many-years-to-senior-engineer--1kwrwwjet","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/how-many-years-to-senior-engineer--1kwrwwjet"},"datePublished":"2023-08-22T16:25:13.496Z","dateModified":"2023-08-22T16:25:00.175Z","description":"Swizec Teller: Years isn't it Years is a bad metric. 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I also spend a LOT of time on my own, researching my tech stack, checking out other tech stacks, watching videos on youtube about how to be better at my job, reading blogs, etc. I dedicate the time, put in the effort, and honed my craft. Compare that to just working the 40 hours a week and calling it good, would take a lot longer","datePublished":"2023-08-25T18:10:09.704Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/1KWRWWjET#c-lbAFJOC0w","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"RumNCode","url":"https://daily.dev/rumncode","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--T5FgpR7y--/f_auto/v1726149309/avatars/avatar_dBdziRtHMZjGKaY66rZ7b"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":6}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"Great Performance, passion to learn, a good drive, and a good company that the engineer fits in are a great addition to the minimum requirements explained in this article. This was a good read thanks!","datePublished":"2023-08-24T08:22:26.823Z","dateModified":"2023-08-24T08:22:43.048Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/1KWRWWjET#c-Z4TFO15el","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Var Envious","url":"https://daily.dev/varactor","image":"https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/a-/AFdZucocfb6toRWCz4wvxV86aS7kYqRmP06kBlyszalaKA=s100"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":3}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"After over a hundred interviews I can tell if the person is senior after 30 mins of conversation.\nIt is really what developer say, which situations he/she refers to and decisions made.\nSeniority is also about taking responsibility for the solution you deliver.","datePublished":"2023-10-16T11:05:28.749Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/1KWRWWjET#c-ppI62hfh7","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Aleksandra Liutikova","url":"https://daily.dev/javasenorita","image":"https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/a/ACg8ocJQUy9FKf40ZQY7cTPMLxsY3iKNJzk9AF1-Gy-wMFeYBk4=s96-c"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":2}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"I think there is no formula for it. It depends on:\n\nCompany\nYour manager\nYour soft skills\nYour technical skills\nCompetition","datePublished":"2023-10-21T11:05:46.130Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/1KWRWWjET#c-5CtoCf1BM","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"NK","url":"https://daily.dev/systemdesign1","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--tnkFRpoj--/f_auto,q_auto/v1697886134/avatars/avatar_Xs2V4D3GpAZz7XjiDDGTm"}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"Great article for sure!","datePublished":"2023-10-11T16:41:54.141Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/1KWRWWjET#c-0d9EgsqxE","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Davis","url":"https://daily.dev/justindavis83","image":"https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/a/ACg8ocI_hwk4ohC2pv9IQKvKUPKtt92dOCHYBL90edLz9HzitkE=s96-c"}}]} ```