A plan from SDE2 to SDE3

Vague "be more senior" does not work. Treat the next 12–24 months as a template. Adjust to your ladder and company speed. Write the gaps down with your manager. Collect artifacts aimed at next-level evidence, not adjectives.

The template

Months 0–3: diagnose and align

• Map yourself to the senior criteria with your manager; write gaps down
• Start or revive a brag doc aimed at next-level evidence
• Pick one ambiguous problem space (reliability theme, costly subsystem, cross-team friction)
• Increase design-doc and review quality deliberately

Months 4–9: own one senior-shaped project

• Drive a project with incomplete initial requirements
• Produce: problem framing, design with alternatives, staged execution, metrics, launch write-up
• Mentor at least one engineer on a meaningful slice
• Present outcomes to stakeholders beyond your immediate team

Months 10–18: widen influence

• Set or rewrite a standard or playbook others actually use
• Lead a cross-team decision (migration sequence, API boundary, SLO)
• Run or heavily shape hiring loops or onboarding for your area
• Ask for calibration feedback: "What would make this an easy yes for senior?"

Months 18–24: consolidate

• Ensure evidence covers multiple criteria, not one heroic project
• Second project or sustained area ownership so it is not a fluke
• Decide: push promo, transfer for scope, or interview externally for a senior seat

Walking through a gap

Gap analysis says you are strong on execution, weak on cross-team influence. Months 4–9 you lead an auth migration playbook adopted by two other teams. Months 10–18 you run a monthly reliability review that product and eng both attend. The packet writes itself from artifacts — not from adjectives.

Anti-patterns that feel like progress

Weekly: ask "what ambiguity did I reduce for others?" and "who got better because of me?"

Monthly: review the coding-vs-leverage balance before habits calcify.

Per promo cycle: compare your artifacts to recently promoted seniors. Imitate the shape of the work, not the politics theater.

Quarterly: kill one anti-pattern on purpose.

Common mistakes

• One heroic project, no second signal. Committees look for a pattern.
• Waiting for the perfect staff project. Take a good-enough ambiguous problem now.
• Snacking on small wins all year. No senior-shaped narrative.
• Imitating politics instead of artifacts. Copy what they wrote and owned.

Check yourself

1. You are strong on execution and weak on influence. What belongs in months 4–9? A playbook or migration other teams actually adopt — not more solo tickets.

2. You are busy every week with small wins. Which anti-pattern is that? Snacking. Pick one hard problem for a quarter.

Key takeaways

• Write gaps down; collect next-level artifacts on a 12–24 month arc.
• One senior-shaped project, then widen influence, then a second signal.
• Kill snacking, ghost chasing, hero mode, slideware, and meeting-senior habits on purpose.
• If the org cannot offer the scope, transfer or leave.

Further learning

The Staff Engineer's Path (Tanya Reilly)oreilly.com StaffEng (Will Larson)Staff Engineer: Leadership beyond the management trackStaff Engineer: Leadership beyond the management track

Back to the map on the path to SDE3.