[sdevonoes]

Being at least 28 years old. Not kidding, well, maybe. In general, "seniority" in many fields in life comes with age; there is no shortcut. It's not very different in IT. Besides the accumulation of experience, with age you gain perspective and become more respectful towards your peers. You'll find many adults who have only one perspective (their own) and that are not respectful to their colleagues: these are not seniors not matter how much they know or how good they are.

Obviously, one also needs to have a bunch of good domain knowledge; but this is independent of age, and it's rather easy to acquire (just work harder/more).

[loige]

I think you bring a very good point. It's true that you need time to be able to develop the skills and the knowledge but it's also true that those skills don't come from free by just waiting for time to pass while sitting idle on a desk.

I have witnessed very very "senior" engineers who didn't really showcase any senior trait, nor they were helping the company or the colleagues in any significant way. Conversely, I have seen very fresh engineers showcasing the diligence and a level of knowledge that you would expect from someone with longer time in the industry. Those tend to be exceptions, but they happen.

Time in the industry is definitely a relevant factor, but I'd say it's also not a guarantee for more seniority...