Are you chained to your job role?
Is it really possible to act as Staff Engineer without officially having the role?
Do you think, in tech, you can work in a role without having such a role?
☝🏼 Don’t get me wrong. I’m not talking about the glass ceiling. I truly believe that there is a glass ceiling regarding women in tech, and I’m basing my statement on:
My personal experience
And data from official sources, like the conclusions from Trading Economics, based on EUROSTAT data, which say:
European Union - Employed women being in managerial positions: From 15 to 59 years was 36.20% in December of 2024, according to the EUROSTAT
No, I’m talking about something else.
Let’s get back to the topic.
For example:
Can you act as a Senior Software Engineer when your role in the company is Junior Software Engineer?
Can you act as Tech Lead when your role is not Tech Lead?
Can you make tasks that are meant for the Staff Engineer role when your role is Tech Lead?
☝🏼 When I say your role, I mean the role you have assigned within the company you are working on; the one that appears in your MS Teams profile.
My short answer is: No.
My long answer: Depends on the company.
☝🏼 It depends on the company and its culture.
On one hand, some companies allow us to act in a different role without officially having it, giving us the chance to prove we’re a good fit and eventually get promoted.
On the other hand, some companies don’t have that kind of culture, which makes promotions or role changes harder to achieve. In some companies, people simply won’t listen to you unless your Slack title says “Senior Staff Engineer”; I’m sorry, but that’s just a fact.
What do you think about this?
I would love to hear your opinion about this topic. Participate in this anonymous poll and all of us could have a sense about this nowadays 👇🏻
👉🏼 My take on this.
If you feel you are not able to act in the role you want to, stop right there, and for the next week, do as follows:
☝🏼 Book time in your calendar to work on the task meant for the role you aim for.
If you already have something you could build/improve, work on that, try to deliver something, and get feedback from at least 1 engineer working in the role you aim for.
If you don’t know, connect with 1 engineer working in the role you aim for, offering your time and experience to help her/him.
✌🏼 Get advice, not feedback, from at least 1 engineer working in the role you aim for. Your goal here is to understand what actions, within your engineering organization, you have to perform.
Perform those 2 actions during 1 week, and tell me how it goes 👇🏻
That’s all for today, folks.
☝🏼 One last thing before you close!
🎧 In this edition, I’m experimenting with something different: a short audio version to go along with the written newsletter.
I’d love to know what you think. Was it helpful? Did it add value?
Let me know by answering this quick question 👇🏻
