List of skills senior eng need beyond coding - Research - 08/04/2025

Problem/Question

Key Findings

1. How to run a meeting w/ talking the most
2. Design doc, feedback, drive to resolution in timely manner
3. Mentor early-career teammate, mid-career eng, and new manager who needs technical advice
4. Indulge senior manager who wants to talk about technical stuff they really don’t understand without rolling eyes or making feel stupid
5. Explain technical concepts to embarrassed people who won’t admit they don’t understand
6. How to influence other team members to use your solution instead of writing their own
7. How to get an engineer to do something for you by asking for help in a way that makes them feel appreciated
8. How to lead a project even though you don’t manage anyone on the project
9. How to listen and share ideas without anyone feeling threatened
10. How to foster care in another engineer about something that you really care about (operations, correctness, testing, quality, performance, security, etc)
11. How to communicate project status to stakeholders
12. How to convince management to invest in a non-trivial technical project
13. How to build iteratively and deliver incremental value
14. How to pick your battles
15. How to help someone get promoted
16. How to gossip/network
17. How to find interesting work on your own
18. How to tell someone they’re wrong without making them feel ashamed
19. How to take negative feedback gracefully

Implementation Notes

N/A

Next Steps

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References

https://skamille.medium.com/an-incomplete-list-of-skills-senior-engineers-need-beyond-coding-8ed4a521b29f