Middle vs. Senior Software Developer Qualifications in 2021. Explained!
It’s a no-brainer that both middle and senior developers are both good at what they do. But, what really separates the two? Is it years of experience, technical proficiency, soft skills, or just luck? Time to find out!
There is no one-word answer to this question. A developer’s seniority level upon several factors. For starters, these include duties that are done on a daily basis, technical skills and knowledge, and how he or she relates with other members of the team. When taking a look at the software developer qualifications to position an individual for either a Middle-level developer or Senior developer, there is a need to use a genius approach to ascertain the level appropriately.
Software development involves some pretty complex systems that require an individual or dedicated team with the right technical skills. You need to take a closer look at the software engineer qualifications in detail. In case you can’t do your due diligence, you hand over the task to a seasoned outstaffing company so that it’ll acquire reliable tech specialists on your behalf.
In this article, we explore the different levels of expertise in relation to software developers. You’ll get a clearer understanding of who is a Middle-level developer or Senior developer, their duties, qualifications, and how you can properly evaluate each. Ready?
A Closer Look at Middle-level Software Developer
A Middle-level Developer is relatively the center guy of a software development team and is typically a master programmer with at least 2-4 years of experience in the field. This role is a step higher than the general Junior developer who is still finding his way into the world of software engineering. Middle-level developers do not necessarily need constant supervision because the years of experience generally turn them from an aspiring coder into a determined, fully functional one who is able to write a code on his own without much guidance from senior team members.
Typically, these guys are relevant in most, if not all stages of the systems development lifecycle. The technical skills involved at this level include documentation, analysis, and testing. They have the ability to work on a number of projects concurrently without needing so much supervision. At this stage, it’s not only about their ability to code but they are now at that higher level where they are able to execute a project easily and swiftly, ask the right questions to get it going, and also give guidance to junior members in the team.
Software Developer Job Qualifications
A Middle-level developer should have:
- 2 – 4 years of experience in the industry
- Experience in multiple projects
- Knowledge of multiple programming languages, technologies, frameworks, so on
- Ability to debug
- Desire to learn more and improve oneself
- Outstanding communication skills with team members, senior staff members, and client when required to
- Ability to write simple unit tests
- Follow tech trends and implement the best practices
- Ability to set up a dev environment, all on their own
- Ability to give guidance to junior members in the dev team
So What Duties are Expected From a Middle-level Developer?
A middle-level developer should be able to do the following easy-peasy:
- Create code that can be easily read and managed by other developers
- Utilize the best coding practices suitable for the project
- Compose testing plans and schedules
- Carry out a number of projects
- Review the code in detail
- Give tasks to junior employees in dev
- Break down bigger tasks into smaller, easily managed ones
After having used APIs, frameworks, programming languages, and tools as a junior dev, Middle-level developers are now tech savvies who easily understand functional programming, manage databases and execute code comfortably with their tools. Funny enough, at this level they eat code, dream code, and sleep code because, with the number of years in the field, it simply becomes a part of them.
What Should You Consider When Hiring a Mid-level Developer?
At this level, a developer should also be thinking about how he can add value to the project, and not just the technical skills. Your business needs to get such an individual who is willing to put in the extra effort to get your business higher.
The best developers are creative, positive, and competitive in all they do. Although some have stereotyped software engineers as anti-socials or geeks (yikes), it’s best to get one who has good communication skills and has a firm grasp on their audience while maintaining a cool level headed attitude.
A Closer Look at Senior-level Software Developer
If you are wondering what the Senior Software Engineer qualifications should be, then look no further, you are at the right place. Middle-level developers who possess deep specialized knowledge and good experience, and the ability to guide and assist their fellow team members qualify for the Senior-level developer position. A Senior Software Engineer develops information systems by studying operations, developing and installing software solutions. It is also the duty of a Senior Software Engineer to support and create a software team that can build websites and support existing ones.
Their task is to provide the best solutions that can profit the business. While leading a project, it is the responsibility of the senior developer to make logical decisions about software design and implementation based on the knowledge of the best practices in the industry.
Software Developer Job Qualifications
A Senior software engineer education qualification should ideally include a Master’s degree in the appropriate field of study. These are some of the requirements needed to qualify:
- 5-8 years of experience in the field
- Good work ethic
- Ability to delegate tasks effectively
- Experience in solving problems and tasks of different complexity
- Experience in building complex systems that have been delivered to clients successfully
- Ability to mentor the middle-level developers of the team
- Ability to grasp and understand the full scope of a project that his team is working on
- Experience in developing software utilizing workflow or Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) software
- Ability to quickly see how a project needs to be developed and suggest the best ways to execute the task
- Fluent with imperative, functional, and object-oriented languages.
- Willing and eager to learn and execute new technologies
What Are The Duties Required From a Senior-level Developer?
- Develop software engineering solutions by analyzing information needs; studying the systems flow, data usage, and work processes; conferring with users, and investigating software problem areas
- Reduce complex problems by applying design patterns
- Manage Junior and Middle-level software engineers and be able to delegate effectively
- Document solutions by developing flowcharts, documentation, diagrams, layout, and clear code
- Recruit and hire Middle-level software engineers
- Desire to learn new technologies and implement them
- Deliver appropriate information by collecting and analyzing development and service issues
- Cooperate with team members to brainstorm and create new products
- Seniors contemplate the right technological solutions to complex problems
- Writing development reports
- Reviewing updated software systems
- Training staff on software usage
What to Consider When Hiring a Senior-level Developer?
A senior developer needs to be influential and have a clear vision of the work that has to be done and delegated. They must be able to produce great results in the shortest time possible
Do not just hire for technical skills. Think of the soft ones as well. Having a loyal senior developer as part of your business is quite beneficial. They will probably stay longer and keep a cool level head when crisis strikes.
The other traits to look out for are:
Mentorship: the senior position requires one to be personable, patient, and interested in coaching young developers to reach their full potential.
Communication: this is a very important skill that should be articulated well, whether verbally or written. Though the senior-level developer may be savvy with tech features, it won’t make sense if they cannot describe processes to other stakeholders.
Listening skills: a senior-level developer must be able to take criticism. Also, they have to read between the lines when a member cannot handle a specific task but is afraid to say so. Listening skills are also handy to know when a client is not satisfied with the work, etc.
Attention to detail: any individual who takes the senior role must be able to keep an eye on everything. They should know when to check on things using a variety of quality assurance methods. This helps to prevent the escalation of issues that may irreversibly jeopardize the project.
The Final Word
To wrap it all up, the IT industry has adopted the use of dedicated development teams that can execute and manage software development projects through outstaffing. You need to understand the differences in levels of the developers before hiring. This helps you to choose carefully and know what to expect in terms of outcomes.
At Newxel, we know how to hire reliable development teams that deliver quality work. We understand what to look for in their middle-level, as well as senior-level developers. We can make your life easier and save you the hassle of searching for the perfect development team, simply harness the global delivery model.
We set up dedicated development teams with the highest technical expertise in software development that do all it takes to deliver the best product for your business. We also provide expert guidance on adapting the hiring process to our market to make it even more effective.
Need a quote or simply have a question? We’ll be thrilled to help! Fill in the form below and we’ll get back to you.
