[dandigangi]

Agreed. I've found some value in years of XP but its very contextual. It feels like its used as gating many times vs depth of experience. Have come across and promoted many seniors with lesser years that have the experience and talent to put their money where their mouth is. And... plenty of 20-30 year veterans that are not good at all.

One framing I like to use when asked about junior and upwards is at the junior level you are focused on self success which is learning skills, building knowledge on how to develop software, the SDLC processes, estimation, and consistency. The higher you go the responsibility set grows to impact other developers on the team and products to a higher degree. Further is expanding horizontal and depth impact where you impact other teams and larger parts of the organization.

Last is that you don't have to be a senior to act senior but for them it is explicit responsibilities.