Three Things Preventing Your Promotion to Senior Engineer (from a Principal at Amazon)

Instead of telling you how to be a software developer, I’m ready to share some advice on how you can be promoted to senior developer or tech lead. Are you ready for the next level? Then let me explain the four traits you need (and the three you need to stay away from).
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The views expressed in this video are my own. I do not speak for Amazon.

[@MapMavericks]

10+ years of developer, team, and management experience distilled into 12 minutes and laid out comprehensively. Thanks for sharing this gold.

[@leefogel5195]

Strength 1. Tech depth and delivery 2. Rejects hyperbolic discounting (i.e. forward-looking) 3. Expert time manager (e.g. limit unnecessary meetings, limit social media) 4. Grow others around you (improving team and allowing more delegation) Weakness 1. Overemphasizes delivery and tech depth 2. Conflates management and leadership 3. Unsustainable time management (i.e. working on nights/weekends)

[@barcellos-pedro]

Man, you sound like a person who goes to therapy and reflect about things from your career and human behavior in a practical way beyond the tech bubble. You inspire me. Thumbs up for the content and thoughtful advices! 💖

[@Neonb88]

Wait he's so wholesome, especially contrasting with a few of the tech KZbinrs, won't name any names here

[@rdean150]

Im already a senior engineer, but man this hits close to home. I have fallen into the trap of overextending myself. Time management is a... growth area for me, and taking the "work longer hours" approach did indeed hurt my mental health. The stress lead to frustration and bitterness when given deadlines that were only possible by incurring extensive technical debt that was clear would not be resolved prior to beginning the next phase. Which would bake the poor design choices into the system so deeply that I would no longer even want my name attached to the project. The only way to avoid it (as far as I could tell) was to work long nights and weekends to ensure that things were implemented correctly without slipping the deadlines. I consider this sort of thing a common occupational hazard in our field, and a rite of passage to some degree. But when you realize that it is the norm rather than the exception, that is a sure sign of bad management and a recipe for burnout and an unhealthy dev team.

[@arielguzman2875]

Good point. Dealing with this daily and it’s tricky. What I decided to do is: working as much as I find enjoyable but be thoughtful of what my contribution is doing. So when I’m not super excited about a task I’ll still shoot to contribute a lot but with less. How exactly depend on the problem.

[@luisdotespinal]

This is the kind of advice I wish I had 10-12 years ago. One thing I experienced, even as I became reached the senior level, is that sometimes there's no space to provide leadership, especially when there are older or more entrenched senior developers in the organization. In situations like that, the only way to break through is through "incidental" changes (people leaving the company or changing jobs completely.)

[@fishplantfish]

I'm one of those lucky guys who got an incidental bump to senior - before I was ready. This video helped me validate that I'm doing ok (Ive been stressing a bit) and has helped outline where I should be focusing on improving. Thanks so much :)

[@psursi]

Really thoughtful breakdown of what it takes to be a senior. I’m not a SWE but I would say the same general principles apply to nearly all senior leadership roles. Thanks for taking time to lay this out for folks.

[@1oussef-nw9pv]

1. Leadership vs. Management: Senior developers are considered leaders, not managers. They set direction and rally their team toward a common goal. Leadership involves thinking about the long-term consequences of actions and communicating a steady state for systems that's healthy. 2. Technical Depth: While technical expertise is crucial, it's not the only requirement. Senior engineers must also demonstrate leadership qualities, such as setting direction and making decisions that benefit the team in the long term. 3. Time Management: Senior engineers need to find time to think about the future and make strategic decisions. This requires extracting more time from existing working hours rather than relying on nights and weekends, which can lead to burnout. 4. Growing Others: Senior engineers should focus on growing others around them, delegating tasks, and empowering team members. This not only helps free up their own bandwidth but also prepares others to take on higher-level responsibilities. 5. Rejecting Hyperbolic Discounting: This means resisting the temptation to prioritize immediate benefits over long-term gains. Senior engineers should think about maximizing the benefits of their team's actions over a longer time horizon.

[@felipesantos1264]

That's an golden piece of advice. High quality content, thank you for sharing this. Means so much for all of us and this is what makes the dev community awesome. Subscribed!

[@roberthinckley7508]

I'm really grateful that you're producing these videos. KZbin is full of beginner level videos, but it's awesome to hear your perspective on how I can further my career and startup.

[@codingunconditionally]

Watched (multiple times) and loved all your videos, very informative and thought provoking. I really hope you make more of these sharing anything about engineering, career, or life advice.

[@stingrae789]

There are a lot of things I can't do so I often think I can't get to senior...but you hit something on the head, the way you carry yourself and how you work is more important than what you can or can't do technically. I have guys who would probably be inclined to say they'd have thought I was senior, despite an admin error that caused my assigned level to be incorrect. This week I got a little low and decided to pull back on doing what I do best but I see that was to my own detriment. I think your video saved me from looking worse overall but also made me realise my goals aren't as far off as I think...

[@Palartzski]

This is the first KZbin channel I've watched where I subscribed after only watching one of their videos. This was such sound, actionable advice that I haven't seen elsewhere. Looking forward to watching your other videos @Meta.

[@christhomasism]

I’m so close to getting to senior. Thanks for making this video, it will help me phrase some things in my 1 on 1s with my manager. Super practical, actionable advice. Thanks for not just having platitudes

[@ryangilchrist3294]

What a fantastic video. I am less than one year into my software engineering journey, and feel I will look back at this video in years to come and appreciate the advice time and time again. Thanks!

[@Zellie1994]

You must be a very busy man, but this content is phenomenal. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and experience. I'm about 4 years into my career and just started thinking about principle and staff roles. I feel behind but over the next year, I'll make the effort to change my mentality. Thanks again.

[@tllong124]

This is great. Thank you. I was recently promoted to Senior Engineer and this bolsters my confidence to continue to push back against the constant onslaught of hyperbolic discounting from the POs, PMs, and stake holders.

[@saitaro]

Congrats on promotion!

[@bralabala]

I'm happy I found your channel just exactly when I need it the most. Thank you for such divergent but extremely valuable content

[@keyone415]

I'm the 1000th like on this video :) Thank you for the advice, you are talking directly to me, I'm an SDE2 at Amazon, still new to the company but good to hear all the advices early on, thank you!

[@3DWithLairdWT]

As someone stepping up in to a mid range role, this is some very helpful content on knowing what things can help me grow as a leader, to then help my team and future teams. Love your channel.

[@fransoto7538]

Man, found you doing random search, trying to filter between all the content on cracking the interview at FAANG companies. But now inside Amazon I found super helpful this advice. I hope you can find the time to keep the content!

[@JoseSanchez-vv1zd]

I just started as an entry level SDE and feel like I have struck gold by coming across your videos. Thank you for all of the insight!

[@spikeydude114]

Always great content! I like how you take both general recommendations AND give a concrete example of what that may look like. I think what would help even more is some visuals (I'm biased since I'm a visual learner). It would really help drive your points and examples home.

[@11yoyomama]

Wow spot on with your assertion that KZbin is chock full with advice for how to become an entry level engineer but there’s very little about how to progress once there. I’ve been a de facto senior engineer for 3 years because I’m the most senior one at my startup, but I have no guidance on how to actually become senior level at a big company. Just found your channel and videos like this are exactly what I’ve been needing to take the next step in my career.

[@tobiahrex]

WoW this is 🔥 I feel like the matrix code was suddenly revealed to me 😎I’ve been studying full-time the last few weeks getting ready to get back in the job hunt and have been deeply curious on if I was ready for Senior, and the example dialogues while hilarious are extremely enlightening. Until now I’ve completely glazed over the behavioral questions as semi-significant but suddenly I feel like that’s EXACTLY the part I should be focusing on as the answer will clearly confess mental attributes that map to capability. “Technical Impact” has always been the Kool-Aid every other KZbinr tries to sell you, but “Team-Impact”, and “Cross-company impact” makes so much sense as a focus point. Major thanks for this. Steve, more behavioral scenarios I think it would be HUGE value-add.

[@VinayakPanchal007]

Your content it amazing. You are right, there aren't any videos on youtube that teach this stuff and engineers end up learning by making many mistakes which costs time. Please keep up the good work.

[@null_bite]

Absolute GEM here! Thank you for the fantastic advice. I am at a level in my career where things are taking a turn towards senior/lead territory. In fact, I am acting as Lead currently. However, there are obvious skillsets that I'm lacking .. and the main ones, you have touched upon here! I have a ton of self-reflection to do after watching this. Much appreciated 🙏

[@FlightX101]

This is awesome not just for Tech but any career in general. I should be able to accurately guesstimate your title simply by the way you carry yourself and discuss topics in a meeting; as well as the amount of positive pull you generate in the board room

[@wayne7936]

Ahhhhh, I've been avoiding moving up to the next level. Thanks for making this process so easy to understand that I have no excuse!

[@FatherPhi]

Love your content man!! Great new channel to binge. I already know you're gonna blow up 🚀

[@felipecabreira4321]

Thanks for the amazing video and tips ! I was really needing those advice's i'm trying to pass to this next level as a engineer to senior and your thoughts helped a lot !

[@ruihanshan4904]

Dude, thanks so much for the content! That’s exactly what Ive been searching for in the last couple months.

[@jhawk3686]

So happy I stumbled upon this video and your channel! Thanks for the great content!

[@thedevguild7525]

Love your videos! So thankful that I am able to come across your advices and the consequences of hyperbolic discounting!

[@jorgegonzaloalfaro5378]

amazing content, thank you so much man. I’m on my first year as a junior dev. Looking forward to more videos from you!

[@oscarmvl]

Great advice! Really puts into perspective what it takes to get to get to a senior position, I particularly liked the discussion about the pitfalls.

[@carneios08]

I'm already a Senior Engineer, but I can definitely get better at promoting other developers' skills. I oftentimes will take on more tasks because I can get them done quicker, but am quickly realizing the poor scalability of that. Nice video!

[@MusikageKira]

Hey there - I'm just an incoming intern at Amazon; but it's great to see content that isn't focused on entry-level! I'll keep watching your videos as I move up the ranks :)

[@kokok488]

Wow! Real Musikage!

[@kiarashazarnia]

Love your content Steve, I hope you have peace. You know I feel that the challenges inside a tech company are too different from those outside in the wild society. Engineers often get locked in that culture and situation and their social and financial skills do not grow as well as their technical and professional skills. I will be happy to listen to this type of concept too.

[@KevinNaughtonJr]

Thanks for providing such valuable info and advice Meta! Excited for more vids to come!

[@roopamrajvanshi4724]

This channel is going to blow up really fast! Thanks for the great advice. Reminds me of the quote, "The best things in life are almost always free."

[@jirijancik2]

Its 2AM in czech republic here. And I just struck gold. This content is just out of this world. Liked. Subscribed. Added video to rewatch it later again. Great job. Please do some course or write a book :D

[@Deleted_Account_2023]

I am so glad I found your video. This is exactly what I need right now! Thank you!!!

[@alexjames8019]

This is EXACTLY the kind of advise I've been looking for. Subscribed! Would love to see more content in the future about small daily steps low-level engineers can take towards building their experience and skills towards seniority/tech leadership.

[@BayesianBrain]

Super glad I found your channel early in my software engineering career. Thank you for doing this Meta! What are your thoughts on creating models of your team’s code base as a new member to increase visibility?

[@123456789anabel]

Your way of speaking is kinda hypnotizing. I didn't even notice when these 11 minutes had passed. And stuff you talked about was really helpful

[@datasciyinfo5133]

Great advice for all. I’m not SE but looking for a job in customer relations/sales. The job I’m looking for in mid level manager. While I had very senior manager roles before, this will be a new industry and skillset. Your videos gave me some good ideas on now I should position myself and what kind of stories I should prepare. Your content is gold and should not be compared to “Tech Lead”, whom I followed for several months before deciding he was a blowhard. 😊. Hope you will do more videos.

[@NigelGale1188]

Just found this channel. Senior scientist/ director. While the discipline differs - the unspoken truths shared here are accurate. Well done and thanks

[@rtylerlucas]

This was SO good! I'd love to hear more about growing others around you.

[@trungung3878]

What a nice content and suit my need exactly. Look forward to new videos about how senior developers approach difficult tasks.

[@sompamalakar]

Thank you so much for this informational and to the point video. Its really going to help me and many other folks who look forward to growing in life professionally. Subscribed as well.

[@GOZES]

Thank you. As someone in the path to senior engineer this is really helpful

[@kyushirokun]

I got promoted to senior engineer around 4 months into my first job. Even i was a bit shocked myself at the time, but with hindsight i can see what i did right. 1: my first priority upon starting the job was understanding not only the technical aspects of the work but also the environment, processes, redundant annoying tasks that the team was going through 2: a week into the job, started taking some time to build internal tools for the team to facilitate, if not outright eliminate, said annoying tasks, and sending an email to the whole team each time such a tool was added to our repo. This somehow also created a culture that encouraged all team members to build internal tools that solved real problems they faced in their job. 3: i started formally documenting the ad-hoc parts of the code base (and simplifying it where it made sense), so that there were no longer cases of "we can't work on this part because Joe is not here and he's the only one who understands it" 4: (this is where luck comes in) i got an offer from another company 4 months into that gig. my direct boss at the time had my back though, and convinced upper management to make a counteroffer way higher than what the other company was offering me and a promotion to tech lead. Granted i only lasted 5 more months at that company until my boss resigned and was replaced by a micromanaging asshat, but by then 22 years old me was already a senior engineer 😅 Tl:dr, bring technical value to your team and make sure your reporting line sees it, i don't guarantee it always works but it had terrific effects in my case. Older jaded me thinks it's a shame it took me almost leaving for it to happen but meh 😅

[@scmsean]

Don't mean to be a jerk, but you had to be working for a very small company. Small companies can't pay well, so they give titles to keep people. My last job promoted someone to a principal engineer after 6 months. He is now a level 2 after 3 years. Level 2 is mid level.

[@kyushirokun]

@@scmseanno offence taken lol it was a mid sized multinational company, but to be fair yeah, i probably wouldn't get a decent shot at having a positive impact on productivity as quickly In a bigger company. On the "small companies can't pay well" point, as i touched upon, their counteroffer was great, way higher than the current market rate for someone with my experience level (i went from entry level salary to almost double that), so meh?

[@kelazan]

I seldom engage, subscribe, like and comment. Your content's delivery and depth have been greatly appreciated. Thank you and please keep going.

[@RyanMuzzey]

Dude, I have been looking for this content on KZbin forever. Thank you!

[@bloody9162]

There's so much wisdom in these 11 minutes. Thank you Meta.

[@petter9078]

I didnt know that these are skills needed to become a senior. Thanks Im happy that you made this vid.

[@raphaelvazquez5302]

Hello Greetings from Mexico, I saw all your videos and I think you are a very intelligent and wise person, thanks for all the advice!

[@PD-ce6nl]

You are much needed. Thank you for this.

[@paulocoelho55]

Wow, that's some great advice. Thanks for sharing, Meta!

[@BY-ib9ew]

Actual good detailed advice from real life experience. Looking forward to more.

[@brandonnguyen9082]

Awesome advice, you need to start posting more videos man!

[@daeshavvn]

I recently found out just how much leadership it takes! Great content

[@jantejones5441]

Subscribed! Please do more of these videos. Keep it up!

[@gloriousgearhead5367]

This was very well articulated. Thank you!

[@telvinnguyen1262]

Thank you. Your video teaches me a lot for the senior level

[@vandanavyas1]

Please keep making videos !! Loved ur content !!

[@gregferguson7737]

Agree completely. Optimize. Rutlhless time efficiency and ensuring you grow others.

[@EnterANameReal]

was that a subtle Tech Lead reference 😂

[@JinayShah]

For someone who’s curious it’s at 8:40

[@DaCom3AK]

@@JinayShah I thought its was going to be a positive reference Lol fuck the tech lead

[@samuelgunter]

@@JinayShah also 0:12

[@samuelgunter]

"How to become a senior developer (as a millionaire)"

[@TheCStrike2]

It was not, obviously

[@xinyuanliu1959]

Thank for very much for sharing. This is exactly what I need.

[@phdtravelz]

Useful tips for all sorts of jobs. Thanks!

[@albertusdev]

This is pure meaty content! Thank you so much!

[@odytrice]

This was super helpful, I know some of these things but I used to do more of burning more of my personal time and less of enabling others

[@ND-gn8tc]

Incredible content! Can't wait to your next advice video

[@theonlinezone6904]

wow, all this advices are gold, thanks for sharing, it helps me understand my team a lot

[@duytruong8750]

Suddenly I've found my role model. Thank you for your helpful information. I wish I would get a chance to meet you in person . Thank you

[@skjoldgames]

Great advice, especially the growing others part. I came here ready to give a sarcastic response that the senior above me was the thing preventing me from attaining the next level lol, but this video was actually pretty solid.

[@pedroluiz2741]

Please keep on making these videos. My father has over 35 years in the software industry and you sound just like him! So rare to see someone who really have a different perspective making videos like this, all of the video that I see are just the same. One lesson learned from my old man: the technical part is NOT the most important one, learn to improve your other skills as well... awesome video :)

[@akilahlittlejohn4940]

This channel is a gold find !!!!!

[@DanDascalescu-dandv]

Excellent video explaining the difference between leaders and managers: leaders set direction, managers are concerned with execution. The summary at 10:42 lists 4 universal characteristics of senior engineers. The three things preventing promotion to senior are: * focusing too much on delivery and tech depth * conflating leadership with management * unsustainable time management (by putting in more hours instead of mentoring others) Thank you!💯

[@Farlid57868]

KZbin recommendation realized I am done with entertainment and I get these kinds of video, great stuff. Thanks for your time

[@Pietr01337]

Thanks! Such a good advice. :) Will be promoted to a lead engineer position shortly.

[@antran4465]

This is a very good advice. I have just been a junior. Thank you. I subscribed.

[@karnellschultz6446]

Wow love your tone. love the content.

[@rustyglen7708]

Super meta advice! This was really useful, I'm currently a mid-level engineer and now I know what I need to do to reach the senior level.

[@rustyglen7708]

Funny, I don't recall making this comment but 2 years later and got promoted to senior level! This advice works, thanks Meta. 💯

[@EdDaWord]

Hey Meta, do you have any tips for people who are Staff Engs? 1) How do you empower others to take ownership of projects or help maintain projects that you might have initially started? 2) How do you stop doing everything and start asking for help? (That grit and self-reliance might have gotten you there) 3) Do you think being staff+ and having 2 or fewer reports is a good way to scale your work? 4) Why choose the staff+ IC route over the management one? 5) What are some things you should stop doing once you reach Staff+? 6) Are there trade-offs you have to make the higher up you go? Does WLB have to suffer?

[@ALifeEngineered]

1. If the project is framed an opportunity, and not just more work, I think you'll find folks thats need to grow in the areas that the project provides easily. 2. You need to draw boundaries and prioritize. If you are keeping something alive that requires a team of people to do well, sometimes you need to remove yourself because something more important will suffer. Let the wheel get squeaky, it's the one that gets the grease. 3. I wouldn't know. 4. Because people management is not what I want to do at this point. 5. Focus on the things you want to do and ruthlessly and unapologetically prioritize. You can't do the stuff you need to do if you are doing stuff that you shouldn't. 6. Yes but I don't let my WLB suffer. You should focus on 1-3 things during a week on top of your obligations you can't get out of. If you get efficient you can do so much more with less time with no loss of fidelity. My goal this year is to be 2x more productive without working more. It may seem impossible but I'm tracking well so far.

[@budakhon]

@@ALifeEngineered for 6, what is your metric for productivity?

[@SakshamSharma-tr9fk]

@@ALifeEngineered 1) How are you tracking your output / projects / investment in others for growing them?? Any video planned for this soon? 2) If you are faced with a situation where you want others to pick something or get incorporated with something, but since official designation/authority is not there with you right now, how do you go about it? For a very real example, one of my friend has been working on one project for a long time, and now their manager's feedback is for them to grow in other areas as well. However, whenever they try to delegate some menial tasks of this project to others, so they also have an understanding of the project, their manager asks them to do it instead because "it'll only be 15 minutes for you", and possibly due to these kind of responses, the other team members also push back on any delegation or ideas they share. What to do in this type of situation? Thanks.

[@VickyMei]

This is a very informative video! Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[@yathi]

This is the best senior engineer advice I have seen around!!!

[@brandonw.2066]

This is great content. I would definitely pay for a whole course on this type of stuff.

[@VazquezRigoberto]

Thank you for this content. This are amazing tips to become Senior engineers.

[@gardnersj]

Wow the advice on making more time by making others better is gold!

[@victorparedes6887]

That's an interesting way to think about it. Thank you.

[@andriidanylov9453]

Thank You for a great suggestions

[@alicheaito9293]

Great advice. Mentorship like this is difficult to come by. Thanks for sharing your experience!

[@BlackHermit]

Very good advice. Thanks Meta!

[@Fanaro]

Dang it, this video is a must-have. This channel will become gold/big soon.

[@ashwinkadaru]

Amazing advice. This is so helpful!

[@kinkfactory69]

Great video! Thanks for sharing

[@MrRight0930]

Love your video, your advice can also be applied to other engineering jobs.

[@MarinatedLentil]

Thanks for the tips!