We all know that the transfer from junior to middle level is quite easy, but the transition from middle to senior level requires a lot of work and not everyone can move to this step in the ladder leading to the heights of a professional career. Being a senior developer means having some of the skills that make us stand out from the crowd and that’s what we’d like to talk about today. So take a moment to read our advice on how to become the kind of senior developer that everyone wishes to be.

It all starts and ends with the mistakes

To become a good programmer you have to learn and therefore make mistakes. So, your way to the top should start from making mistakes, then to correct them, through learning from them until you can share these mistakes with others and this is the place where you know that the level of a senior developer is in your sight.

Through the process of dealing with errors and problems, your brain starts to get used to certain patterns and thanks to that you can work much faster and create much better codes. So practice makes us masters, and at the same time makes us resistant to errors.

Skills that an excellent senior developer should have

Many skills help you to work as a senior developer, but there are also a few without which you cannot climb any higher. They are, among other things:

• technical skills
• growth skills
• team skills
• client skills
• community skills
• sales skills
• interview skills
• So starting with technical skills it is worth mentioning that the senior developer knows WHY a specific program or tool works in a certain way and can use it so that the whole project benefits from it. This person is also aware of HOW certain issues, systems and activities are connected and thus can streamline the work on a particular task.When it comes to growth skills, the senior developer is always interested in new solutions, new programs and new ways of solving the challenges. They are attracted to learning and to constantly expanding their knowledge. This is a level that not everyone can reach, because if you think you already know everything, then the senior developer’s position is becoming more and more distant from you.Team skills mean that a senior developer doesn’t have to boast about their skills by creating code that’s incomprehensible to everyone else. They are characterised by the fact that they create a beautiful, pure code that everyone instinctively loves because they do not have to prove to themselves and others their superiority over everyone else. If someone needs help, the senior developer is happy to help and if they don’t know something, they just ask and don’t pretend to know everything.When it comes to conversations with the client or user about the program, application, etc., it is necessary to have client skills that enable the senior developer to listen to all the client’s needs and to explain clearly the technology that is planned to be used. Not everyone can communicate their ideas in a cultured and calm way without forcing the user to apply to them, which is why this skill distinguishes the senior developer from other developers. Communication skills are also crucial. As a senior developer, you need to be able to talk to others, communicate clearly and unambiguously, write about or talk about your experiences. This skill will also be useful in training others and inspiring them to broaden their horizons.

• Finally, a very important skill, namely interview skill. A senior developer, knowing how to talk to others, knows how to be interviewed and how to apply for a higher salary or a better position in a company. They can convince others and know the answers to difficult questions, and in case they do not know, they always ask questions and do not pretend to know everything. Besides, the senior developer is very helpful as a person who helps the HR department in the search for new employees, as they know exactly what to require at each level of the developer’s work.

Be expert in your programming language

Senior developers know almost all the aspects of the programming language they use, and if they don’t know what to do with some issues, they learn it on the fly. They do not accept the fact that something cannot be done. They try as long as they succeed and develop every day.

It’s also worth mentioning that the senior developer usually has a sixth sense to intuit a badly written code and knows exactly what and how to change to make things work. This skill cannot be taught instantly, you need to practice it for years to reach perfection and this is exactly one of the differences between the levels of developers.

Help others to thrive

Being a senior developer is also a bit like being a mentor to other developers. On this position, it is worth sharing your experience and ways to deal with particular problems with less experienced colleagues. It’s a great feeling to have authority with others who want to listen to you and follow your advice.

Use your power and inspire others, and if they get stuck in a deadlock, don’t queen over them, just give them all the guidance in a clear, straightforward way. Don’t forget that once you were in their place, too, and if you knew then what you are knowing now, you would make the work easier not only for yourself but also for others.

So being the ideal senior developer may not seem to be easy, but it is certainly a great challenge and an opportunity for a very fast and great development on many levels. Not only technical skills are important here, but also analytical and interpersonal skills, as well as a whole range of creativity and thinking outside the box of the standard solutions. It is also interesting that being a senior developer is not the end of a career path that can be taken. The next steps is becoming, for example, a lead developer or architect, which leads to even greater development, better earnings and the opportunity to get to know the fascinating IT industry in depth. So if you want to become a better senior developer, implement our advice and enjoy the opportunities it gives you.