The hardest challenge I have had with hiring junior engineers is separating the quality ones from the average. For every Gates or Zuckerberg in their dorm room, there are thousands of average (or worse) who just can’t make the jump to the next level.
I think if you are willing to hire juniors you need to be willing to move on from those that don’t show growth pretty quickly. If they aren’t making great strides in 1-2 years you need to do what’s best for the team and let them go and try again with a fresh crop of junior talent.
I think 3-6 months are enough to understand the trajectory. That's why I like hiring students/interns - that's what I did in the case of all 3 juniors on my team. 2 were part time students, and 1 was an intern for 3 months.
With seniors you might have a higher 'hit ratio', but when you miss, you are stuck with them for a while.
I have worked with juniors before, and it really depends on the energy and attitude the junior.
One can argue that it's important for every member of the team, and I agree. But, if you settle on the attitude, you'd better get a senior.
Plus, as David posted, it can be pretty hard to find those good juniors who are there to grow and study and not just to get past the "junior" phase so they can find jobs easier.
Adam Grant said in his book, Hidden Potential:
"The best team members are not the biggest rainmakers but the most pro-social"
All in all, very good article and an important topic.
The difference is that with juniors, you can check that energy and motivation before giving them a full time job, using internships and student roles. That’s what I’ve been doing, and obviously working with someone is a much better indication than the interview process :)
When I hired a Junior for my past team, I told my boss I like hiring them because I almost always learn something new from them or learn something about myself and hiring.
People keep popping up who become Seniors in a short time-which only shows how diverse this field is. But I no longer know whether I should omit the seniority in my title after 10 years.
I don’t know when I became a senior engineer. At 16 I wrote a registration system for a nationwide mathematical competition that the whole country used to register students of their school. The system was under more stress than some app developers build for startups these days.
Software engineering is not rocket science, but it's waay too diverse to measure seniority effectively. In the last ad I put up, I was simply looking for React developers with 2+ of experience. Junior or senior, you pick how you’d like to be addressed.
By all means, if you’re a business and filtering for Senior, you’ll miss out on great Juniors!
That’s a good point. We actually have no titles at all too - I was just a ‘software developer’. but I think it’s a privilege of small startups. Usually people really want those titles, to have a sense of progression (and because FAANG use them)
Shameless self-promotion: I'm a junior graduating this April. Still looking for new grad roles, have 1 year of internship experience. Have a US green card.
What makes me stand out I've seen is my curiosity how I have practical ideas and the drive to implement them. I love both the art of progamming and the ideas I can bring to life with it. Currently making the easiest to use carpooling website with auto-matching based on location. And no login needed for minimum friction, you just share an invite link to the event. Does your work/church/mosque organize carpools? If not, my website will be the easiest solution.
This author forgot to address something. Companies don't hire juniors because when they become productive they leave immediately for double the salary.
The hardest challenge I have had with hiring junior engineers is separating the quality ones from the average. For every Gates or Zuckerberg in their dorm room, there are thousands of average (or worse) who just can’t make the jump to the next level.
I think if you are willing to hire juniors you need to be willing to move on from those that don’t show growth pretty quickly. If they aren’t making great strides in 1-2 years you need to do what’s best for the team and let them go and try again with a fresh crop of junior talent.
I think 3-6 months are enough to understand the trajectory. That's why I like hiring students/interns - that's what I did in the case of all 3 juniors on my team. 2 were part time students, and 1 was an intern for 3 months.
With seniors you might have a higher 'hit ratio', but when you miss, you are stuck with them for a while.
Have you tried looking at their github and seeing what they are learning on their own time? If so, how reliable has that been?
It's not as simple as it sounds though.
I have worked with juniors before, and it really depends on the energy and attitude the junior.
One can argue that it's important for every member of the team, and I agree. But, if you settle on the attitude, you'd better get a senior.
Plus, as David posted, it can be pretty hard to find those good juniors who are there to grow and study and not just to get past the "junior" phase so they can find jobs easier.
Adam Grant said in his book, Hidden Potential:
"The best team members are not the biggest rainmakers but the most pro-social"
All in all, very good article and an important topic.
Thanks Anton.
The difference is that with juniors, you can check that energy and motivation before giving them a full time job, using internships and student roles. That’s what I’ve been doing, and obviously working with someone is a much better indication than the interview process :)
Love this, Anton.
As a "Senior" myself, having the opportunity to mentor is a dealbreaker for me.
Both in terms of my own growth and it's what makes the job fun in many cases.
Would love to see more companies take on junior devs and not only hire for senior
Thanks Jordan! I completely agree about the fun part :)
When I hired a Junior for my past team, I told my boss I like hiring them because I almost always learn something new from them or learn something about myself and hiring.
People keep popping up who become Seniors in a short time-which only shows how diverse this field is. But I no longer know whether I should omit the seniority in my title after 10 years.
I don’t know when I became a senior engineer. At 16 I wrote a registration system for a nationwide mathematical competition that the whole country used to register students of their school. The system was under more stress than some app developers build for startups these days.
Software engineering is not rocket science, but it's waay too diverse to measure seniority effectively. In the last ad I put up, I was simply looking for React developers with 2+ of experience. Junior or senior, you pick how you’d like to be addressed.
By all means, if you’re a business and filtering for Senior, you’ll miss out on great Juniors!
That’s a good point. We actually have no titles at all too - I was just a ‘software developer’. but I think it’s a privilege of small startups. Usually people really want those titles, to have a sense of progression (and because FAANG use them)
I have not given that much attention, but perhaps I should do more of that going forward. Thanks for the suggestion!
Honestly this is my experience, maybe it's not fit for everyone :)
For a very long time Netflix for example hired only seniors and it worked pretty well for them
Excellent read. Thank you!!
Shameless self-promotion: I'm a junior graduating this April. Still looking for new grad roles, have 1 year of internship experience. Have a US green card.
What makes me stand out I've seen is my curiosity how I have practical ideas and the drive to implement them. I love both the art of progamming and the ideas I can bring to life with it. Currently making the easiest to use carpooling website with auto-matching based on location. And no login needed for minimum friction, you just share an invite link to the event. Does your work/church/mosque organize carpools? If not, my website will be the easiest solution.
Here's my github if you want to know more + how to contact me: https://github.com/kleenkanteen
Nice project Sabih! Good luck! :)
This author forgot to address something. Companies don't hire juniors because when they become productive they leave immediately for double the salary.
I've done it too.
I feel I addressed it in the end :)
If you want to keep them - pay them for their skills