[gcheong]

There will always, or eventually, be a point at every company where you will be tasked with something you haven't done before. At least if you're at a company that has challenging things to do. And for the most part you will be on your own. How good you get is pretty much up to you - no company cares much about mentoring or training except in superficial ways. That's been my experience at least. It seems these days Senior Engineer is a title given to basically anyone that isn't straight out of a bootcamp or college with a couple years or more under their belt.

[allthemcodes]

So basically it doesn't matter which level you're hired for, because you'll have to teach yourself how to do the job regardless (with minimal training/mentoring)?

[gcheong]

That's mostly been my experience. If you've got more than a couple years experience most companies expect you to perform with minimal direction beyond showing you where the code is. Perhaps I'm just cynical, which is a good possibility so grain of salt and all that, and your mileage may vary. You may consider asking in the interview where the interviewer feels their skills are today relative to where they were when they joined and how they got to that level. That doesn't mean I haven't worked with great people - and I think you should look for those people - who in some way have helped me level up my skill, but it's never been under any kind of formal or defined process or company value system.

[giantg2]

I very much agree. I would also add the cynical side that management always finds things to nitpick and hold people back.