> Reality: This legacy code isn't going anywhere, and neither am I. Let's fix some bug that happens once every full moon.

I still get to play with the latest tech to evaluate them — do I adopt them? Usually no, but that’s my choice.

Sorry man, I tried building real projects with new tech as a junior and the tech always went to shit then too. Except for the occasional unicorn, new tech has never been fun.

Plus I don’t know about anyone else, but I sure worked on legacy code too as a junior… I’m talking fucking ColdFusion at one point.

> Expectation: Being senior means I can avoid all the boring tasks.

> Reality: Endless meetings, documentation, and code reviews… Oh, and did I mention debugging legacy systems on Friday at 6 PM?

I love meetings. That’s where I set everyone straight and tell them that they should consider this second option and it may save them (and me) a ton of money and time. There are the occasional overly-long meetings but I speak up and nip the problem in the bud.

There are some boring ass meetings that have to be done like standup but I’m not even lifting a finger. It’s like being paid to do nothing.

I also enjoy documentation personally.

Code reviews are kinda boring, no cap. But whatever, it’s not that bad. I could be cleaning a kitchen at a restaurant or fixing a stripped screw.

I’ve had to debug systems at inopportune times before but it’s happened like 5 times tops in my career.

But overall, I get way fewer shitty tasks as senior.

> Expectation: Has a million ideas on how to change this company 180 degrees! Let’s improve everything!

> Reality: Knows that nothing will change without management approval and the necessary budget.

I guess I don’t disagree with this one that much, but I never had much friction as a junior dev either.

Honestly, the problem is that most people barely have a handle on what’s going on the company and they might suggest building a bridge when we’ve been breaking ground on a tunnel for four years — no shit your idea is not going to get any traction.

Maybe read the room first?

> Expectation: Once I become a senior, I will have more time to relax.

> Reality: It’s fine, I’ll finish the work on Saturday.

Can’t say anything other than I’ve never had to work weekends in my life at a software company.

> Expectation: Once I become a senior, I will lead big projects, have a big impact, and tell others what to do!

> Reality: I miss the times when people told me what to do.

Sorry I just can’t relate to this one at all. I just love engineering, all my past projects have always worked out very well.

Right now I’m building a DIY pressure-activated water pump system in my garage and I just bought all the parts while sitting in a Target parking lot, put it together in 15 minutes, and it just worked.

I have all this knowledge and experience from doing this for 10 years and I’m still learning new things all the time and challenging myself, and when I put shit together, it works.