What question destroys fake seniors in an interview?

In this video I talk about programming.
This video is part of my vlog series where I explain my way of thinking about topics related to software development.

[@DanielDogeanu]

Wow! Are you saying that a generalist is a better senior developer than a specialist? Who knew? Definitely not recruiters! 😂

[@jonas8708]

Not a single mention of leadership, mentorship or soft skills? Too many people are given senior titles off the back of just their technical skills, that's the first problem we have to solve. How can anyone be considered senior if they don't even know how to talk to other people?

[@SCBiscuit13]

The think about 'senior' software developers. There is a lack of mid positions in the EU, and the 'senior' patch is given to anyone coding for more than 4 - 5 years. The Senior you are referring to is I guess a 10x'er with at least a decade of software engineering and they are scarce to come across.

[@abcabc-ur3bf]

I came across the same conclusion after I moved to Europe in recent year. Most positions are either SE or Senior SE. Every SE with only 4 - 5 years will start self identifying as Senior. Sometimes these "senior" are also Team Lead or Tech Lead. May be Staff Engineer or SA would match the original meaning of Senior in this new strange world

[@alexanderkoh7937]

Thank you Fredrik, this video is precisely what I needed to hear. I am a mid-level engineer and I couldn't quite put my finger on what was the difference between me and the seniors I look up to - this video is the answer. I have subscribed to your channel. If possible, do you mind covering the topic: "What if your 'tech lead' is a 'junior engineer' - i.e. an engineer with '12 years of experience' but the 12 years are '1 year experience'"

[@FredrikChristenson]

It depends on their performance. Being a tech lead does not require you to be the most senior dev on the team. The best move is to highlight the mismatch to your manager so they can evaluate if this tech lead meets their expectations or not. If they find that you are right and the project suffers due to their performance, they will take action. However if the manager does not agree with you, there is nothing to do. Even if you know that the person is incompetent it does not matter since your company is free to hire whoever they want and pay them for work they can't do. Your only move is to ask yourself if you are being treated fairly or not.

[@mingy7017]

Thanks for pointing the directions.

[@HiOctaneVideoShare]

Idealy, all sr. devs would be experts at everything from soldering and-gates to strategic corporate product develpment. That way the bosses don't have to do anything themselves and don't need to hire anybody else. Wouldn't it be nice?

[@gediminasmorkys3589]

I won't lie, as a boss, I would like that, but I cannot help thinking I would also be threatened. Why would they work for me if they can do EVERYTHING?

[@fu5ha_edits]

Interesting video and I like the point about asking experience questions. Some of the specific examples you gave don't really apply to the domain I work in (video games/engine programming) but the high level concept definitely does.

[@HominisLupis]

You, sir, are as hilarious as you are insightful.

[@sirk3v]

Thanks for providing