Muhammed's Blog

From Junior to Senior - The Skills Nobody Tells You About

It’s Not About Writing Better Code (Well, Not Entirely)

3 min read

Senior doesn’t mean “writes code faster and knows more algorithms.” I was so wrong about this it’s almost funny.

The Promotion That Confused Me

Got promoted to “Senior Developer” after three years. First thought: “I still Google basic syntax. Am I a fraud?”

Turns out, that’s not what “senior” means at all.

A senior developer who writes perfect code but works in isolation is less valuable than a mid-level developer who unblocks their team and makes everyone better.

The Skills That Actually Matter

1. Communication Is Your Real Superpower

Before writing code, write questions:

  • What problem are we solving?
  • Who’s the user?
  • What’s the success metric?

Over-communicate async: Clear PR descriptions, updated tickets, proactive progress updates.

Learn to say “I don’t know” comfortably, then follow with: “but I’ll find out.”

2. Code Review Is Knowledge Transfer

Don’t look for perfection. Look for:

  • Does this solve the problem?
  • Will someone understand this in 6 months?
  • Are there edge cases missed?
  • Is there a simpler way?

Give better reviews: Explain “why,” ask questions instead of demanding, point out what’s good, provide alternatives.

Receive reviews better: Don’t take personally, ask for clarification, push back when you disagree, thank people for their time.

3. Scope Creep Is the Enemy

PM: "Can we add export to PDF?"

Junior: "Sure, no problem!" (3 days later, still not done)

Senior: "That adds 2 days. Should we ship this first
and tackle PDF as separate ticket?"

You’re not being difficult. You’re being realistic.

4. Debugging Is a Science

  1. Reproduce it reliably
  2. Isolate the problem (API? Database? Frontend?)
  3. Form a hypothesis
  4. Test hypothesis (change ONE thing)
  5. Verify the fix
  6. Document it

5. Writing Is Thinking

If you’re the only one who understands it, you’re the bottleneck.

Write:

  • Clear commit messages: Not “fix bug,” say “Fix null pointer exception in user profile when avatar missing”
  • Helpful READMEs: How to run, how to test, common issues
  • ADRs: Why PostgreSQL over MongoDB, why REST over GraphQL
  • Runbooks: What to do when server crashes at 3 AM

6. Know When to Ship “Good Enough”

Perfect is the enemy of shipped.

Ask:

  • Does it solve the problem?
  • Is it reasonably maintainable?
  • Are edge cases handled?
  • Is it tested?

If yes to all four: Ship it. You can improve later.

7. Your Tools Don’t Define You

Some of my most productive days involved ChatGPT writing boilerplate, Copilot suggesting functions, Stack Overflow solving problems, UI libraries instead of building from scratch.

Nobody cares how you built it. They care that it works.

8. Understanding the Business Matters

When you understand the business:

  • You suggest better solutions
  • You push back on bad ideas with data
  • You prioritize the right things
  • You become a partner, not a code monkey

The Soft Skills That Aren’t Soft

Mentoring: Teaching makes you better. You’re forced to think clearly about your decisions.

Knowing What You Don’t Know: “I don’t know, let me research that” is more valuable than pretending to know. Build a network of people smarter than you in different areas.

Time Management: Identify what’s actually urgent. Communicate delays early. Say no to non-aligned items.

Managing Up: Weekly updates, ask for what you need, bring solutions not just problems.

The Timeline

0-1 years (Junior): Learn to code, ship without breaking. Success = completing assigned tasks.

1-3 years (Mid-level): Ship independently, learn codebase deeply. Success = taking ownership end-to-end.

3-5 years (Senior): Unblock others, make architectural decisions, mentor. Success = multiplying team output.

5+ years (Staff+): Set technical direction, influence roadmap. Success = impact across multiple teams.

How to Actually Level Up

Stop waiting for permission. Start doing senior-level work:

  1. Volunteer for code reviews
  2. Ask “why” more than “how”
  3. Write docs for things that confused you
  4. Pair program with people better and worse than you
  5. Give talks or write blog posts
  6. Take on technical debt
  7. Own something end-to-end

Becoming senior isn’t about memorizing design patterns. It’s about:

  • Making people around you better
  • Solving the right problems
  • Communicating clearly
  • Knowing when to ship
  • Understanding the “why”

The code matters. But impact on your team, product, and users matters more.

Start asking better questions.