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Junior / in the middle / senior? 1

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beltmanjr

Technical User
Oct 29, 2007
333
NL
When can you call yourself a junior, 'something in the middle' or a senior in a field?

What factors does this depend on?
 
From my experience it can depend on two different factors.
* Hiring salary
* Years of experience
 
What it depends on is knowledge and experience and how closely the person needs to be supervised. A trainee needs close supervision and typically has less than 2 years experience and is not assigned to work on the more difficult aspects of the job alone because he or she does not have the experience or knowledge. A midlevel person can generally work on most things and requires less supervision. A senior person fully understands the process from start to finish and is capable of working independently and is assigned to the projects or tasks that require the most in-depth knowledge or that require quickly gaining in-depth knowldge of a new technology or language. This person is generally also assigned to mentor junior personnel to get them up to that level of performance. In truth most people never get past the mid-level of performance because they never truly learn anything in depth. With languages and technologies changing so fast, it is extremely hard to truly become senior in performance. As a result many people who have been defined organizationally as senior due to years of experience are not because they have breadth of experience but not depth. A truly senior person has both.


"NOTHING is more important in a database than integrity." ESquared
 
SQLSister,

I wish all workcenters used the method that you state to determine job placement. Sadly, it doesn't work that way where I'm at.
 
I wonder if I could call myself senior in crystal reports. I have been working with it since end 2000 on a monthly basis. Since 5 months I'm working with crystal as a consultant at a bank, at least 3 days a week.

I am aware that there are things in crystal I'm not using, tricks and methods to still learn, but I pick these things up quickly. I have no supervision, neither do I need any.
I use a lot of sql, which doesnt pose an issue at all. Oracle, sybase, mysql, MSSQL, all the same to me...

Could I regards myself as a midlevel person or should I see myself as a senior in Crystal Reports?
 
You can call yourself whatever you want, just make sure you can back it up if you have to.




This is a Signature and not part of the answer, it appears on every reply.

This is an Analogy so don't take it personally as some have.

Why change the engine if all you need is to change the spark plugs.


 
And don't call yourself a senior developer if your official job title is differnt. If someone is checking refernces and finds that your job title is different thatn what you put on your resume you could be eliminated from a job for lying.

"NOTHING is more important in a database than integrity." ESquared
 
There is no offcial title giving body that bestows JR or SR to anyone that I have ever seen. those titles are usually given by the employer for a job.




This is a Signature and not part of the answer, it appears on every reply.

This is an Analogy so don't take it personally as some have.

Why change the engine if all you need is to change the spark plugs.


 
Thanks all,
I'm getting a clear picture on how this works :)

I have often wondered what you should be able to do/know for jobs advertised with: senior ABC required......
 
I applied for a Sr. Analyst a couple years ago because I felt that I met the qualifications with regards to the job responsibilities... If they had advertised the exact same job description and rate of pay, but called me either Jr. Clerk or Executive VP, I would still have applied based on the description.

~Thadeus
 
You can call me anything, just don't call me late for supper. I could care less what my Title is as Title's don't mean anything. They now call Garbage Men, Sanitation Engineer's. Just pay me the Money!!!




This is a Signature and not part of the answer, it appears on every reply.

This is an Analogy so don't take it personally as some have.

Why change the engine if all you need is to change the spark plugs.


 
of course its more fun to put the cool titles on you resume. In high school I was a....

Petroleum Transfer Technician

--Dan
Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.
Mark Twain
 
And it does differ when applying for jobs, at least in the UK. Calling myself an IT Manager rather than IT Network manager, gives me a better chance on my next IT Manager job..

Calling yourself a Petroleum Transfer Technician will look better than petrolium Pump boy!

It really is 'all' in the name :)

Just make sure you can proof your job title if ever needed. I did insist on the term IT Manager rather than something that wasn't industry norm as it does really help you finding your next job if ever needed..
 
And petrolium Pump boy, far better than "Gas Monkey"

--Dan
Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.
Mark Twain
 
My title is "Senior Technician - Voice & Data Communications".
Mainly because I am the oldest, most knowledgeable technician with the most tenure.

 
I'm usually the Senior Tech/Analyst/Engineer as I'm the only one there and I'm over 55 and it's after my last name.




This is a Signature and not part of the answer, it appears on every reply.

This is an Analogy so don't take it personally as some have.

Why change the engine if all you need is to change the spark plugs.


 
While I agree with what most of the replies, especially that a title can't make up for skill and knowledge, one thing I have to disagree on is with any time analogy. Time doing a job doesn't necessarily have an effect on retaining skills.

We have a guy working for us (for now anyway) who has been doing IT work (desktop and laptop help desk type work) for the better part of 10+ years, yet he is still on a junior level. I had to help him figure out a very basic networking problem on his own computer that any first year IT person should have been able to troubleshoot. I've tried to teach him some basic skills and yet, he just doesn't get it. He doesn't seem like an idiot but after 10 years, 90% of his job, it's almost like we have to train him on the exact same things every few months.

I would agree that a junior level person is given tasks to accomplish, they need that eagle eye on them most of the time, and should be considered a beginner. They have neither the real world skills nor time "behind the wheel" to gain the experience needed.

A mid-level person is someone who has mastered some areas of expertise, is given some jobs, but can also find their own work to do as well, but really doesn't need the hand holding a junior person would need and they would be in a position to offer advice & some training to junior personal.

A master is someone who we all go to when your world breaks around you. They are the calm, cool, and collected person who has seen it all and done it all before. They know the in's and out's and could tell you everything and anything about that particular program, hardware, network etc. etc. etc. they are the trainers, mentors and people that offer up advice on how things really work.

Just my two cents on it. I think we all can be all three levels in certain areas it just depends on your job, your skills, how long you've been doing it and how long you retain that information. I know senior DBA's that are masters at SQL, mid-level at Sybase and juniors at Oracle. Yet a Senior DBA could be a master at any one of them or all of them.

Cheers
Rob

The answer is always "PEBKAC!
 
[qoute]
after 10 years, 90% of his job, it's almost like we have to train him on the exact same things every few months.
[/quote]
Career advice: this person is not suitable for IT. He better finds something that does agree with him.. 10 years? Man you should certainly be mid-level in the field you have been working in for that long!
 
You did spell it right the 2nd time in the QUOTE




This is a Signature and not part of the answer, it appears on every reply.

This is an Analogy so don't take it personally as some have.

Why change the engine if all you need is to change the spark plugs.


 
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