[druadh]

Not senior, but junior...

I recently started Web Development (well, it's been almost a year now). I am technically in a 'Junior' position, but I've read articles stating that it's only detrimental to list yourself as a Junior.

What are your thoughts? Am I still a Junior after a year? Should I keep the "Junior" label on my resume/linkedin if I'm still a Junior?

[wccrawford]

My standard advice is to use a job title that fits your ability. If you don't, it's going to be a bad fit.

That said, if you're looking for a new job and are still a junior, you're probably switching far too quickly.

My plan was to switch at 3 years experience, at which point I'd drop the junior title for sure. I ended up staying longer (because they increased my pay very well the first 3 years, and then started screwing me over) and my second job was "lead developer", which I still have 11 years later. I'm sure I could get more money if I switched, but I like my job and my company and my coworkers, so it's been hard to find anything I want more, no matter the money.

In short, no, if you switch jobs, you shouldn't call yourself a junior, one way or another.

[silicon2401]

> That said, if you're looking for a new job and are still a junior, you're probably switching far too quickly.

couldn't disagree more. people should change jobs every week if they're able to. why stay at company A making X, if company B is willing to hire you now, for 1.5-3x? if you stay at a company for an arbitrarily long period of time, you're just throwing away tons of money

[ratorx]

From a pure immediate money perspective, sure changing immediately to a higher paying job makes sense.

However, generally each new job comes with a ramp up time before you become useful and then a further ramp up before you can develop new skills (in my limited experience).

I don’t think I could properly progress in my career by building higher level skills if I had to learn new organisational practices and technical skills every few months. And arguably, IMO proper progress is essential to securing significantly higher salaries in the future (but I’m not sure how the total money aspect works out though).

[silicon2401]

That's a fair point but to me that's already built in to job hopping. If you're not able to secure a new job (or hold down an existing job), then you keep progressing, but at a higher salary. I work for money and nothing else (I couldn't care less about software) so I gain no benefit from doing the same thing (growing my skills) at a current job than at a new job with a much higher salary.

[delecti]

> why stay at company A

It obviously isn't a universal preference, but I get most of my job satisfaction from having deep familiarity with the ecosystem I work with. I don't get that level of familiarity before a year or two, and it only gets stronger from there. I'm about to hit 4 years at my current job and my job satisfaction has never been higher. I might be able to make more money by hopping to a FAANG, but I would surely take a hit to my happiness.

[Leherenn]

I would say drop it. Personally, I see "junior" positions as a way for companies to advertise they're willing to hire people with little to no professional experience (e.g. new grads). Once hired, a "junior" probably has the same responsibilities as a "normal"/non-senior developer, just less is expected of you, so there's little reason to differentiate. You just have a bit more to learn.

[megapolitics]

A previous employer of mine gave all devs the title of "Technical Specialist" as opposed to some variation of "Software Developer." They also had a progression system where "Junior" was not actually the lowest rung, but the second-lowest after "Graduate". Needless to say I just put "Software Developer" on my CV without a second thought.

The only time I would recommend putting the "Junior" title on your CV/Linkedin is if you get a promotion which could be perceived as faster-than-average upward progression.

[Fiahil]

A first job is always a "Junior" one, whether the title says it or not.

In my current company, you're in a junior position until five years of experience or two years of tenure. So, of course you're still a "junior" after a single year.

Big titles and fast promotions are potential red flags, avoid inflating your current position. It's like saying "I'm super strong with a perfect GPA" in a interview, well lol, you're going to get wrecked.

[evanmoran]

Junior is fine for a year or two. Lots of people start that way so if your career really is just starting it’s ok to be junior, intern, or associate to get in the door. Then try to get a title change / promotion when you can by asking what their expectations are. Usually it’s pretty fast at that level so it should easy for them to speak to.

[spatley]

I would avoid the junior label, I see most backgrounds listed as `web developer` and then promoted to `senior web developer`