I think "you have done this for X years" is arbitrary measurement in many ways. Seniority of time does not mean seniority of skill. I absolutely think that there is nuance in total time served that absolutely has a value, but if you build a progression ladder that includes "you've held this role for X time" is actually really infuriating when in SaaS you're often wearing many hats, doing designated work/ taking responsibilities you're not being compensated for because it improves your experience. Where I am at, if you do the work and meet the requirements for a higher title for six months or more, you should be able to be promoted to that title.
I'd love to know how you might see this differently. This feels like a contentious thing I haven't been exposed to reasonable arguments on from the other perspective yet other than "serve your time, child".
Would the solution to this Senior inflation, be to have multiple levels? Junior -> Associate -> Engineer -> Senior -> Lead -> Principal etc? I guess it would make the Senior title more of upper-middle class title? We have just implemented this at my company. I have yet to see if it solves anything...
I’ve seen a lot of companies have something like this. My old company has had the basic structure (titles changed a little) of Software Engineer I > Software Engineer II > Senior Software Engineer (Software Engineer III), but it still wasn't uncommon with this structure for someone to get to Senior level within about 5 years.
I think "you have done this for X years" is arbitrary measurement in many ways. Seniority of time does not mean seniority of skill. I absolutely think that there is nuance in total time served that absolutely has a value, but if you build a progression ladder that includes "you've held this role for X time" is actually really infuriating when in SaaS you're often wearing many hats, doing designated work/ taking responsibilities you're not being compensated for because it improves your experience. Where I am at, if you do the work and meet the requirements for a higher title for six months or more, you should be able to be promoted to that title.
I'd love to know how you might see this differently. This feels like a contentious thing I haven't been exposed to reasonable arguments on from the other perspective yet other than "serve your time, child".
Would the solution to this Senior inflation, be to have multiple levels? Junior -> Associate -> Engineer -> Senior -> Lead -> Principal etc? I guess it would make the Senior title more of upper-middle class title? We have just implemented this at my company. I have yet to see if it solves anything...
I’ve seen a lot of companies have something like this. My old company has had the basic structure (titles changed a little) of Software Engineer I > Software Engineer II > Senior Software Engineer (Software Engineer III), but it still wasn't uncommon with this structure for someone to get to Senior level within about 5 years.