[austincheney]

I am a JavaScript developer so my opinions are limited to that slice of software.

Senior used to mean someone experienced enough to become an advanced problem solver. Those days are long over.

Now senior is equivalent to expert beginner. They are really fast and confident at using tools. This advanced and rapid tool usage means they can solve some problems quickly, but they cannot imagine any solutions aside from their favorite tools. The most important limitation there is that most senior developers cannot write original software. It’s a world of a few commonly known problems with commonly applied repeated solutions and everything else is discarded with excuses that equally lack originality.

If, as a JavaScript developer, you are able to write original software without popular tools you are commonly viewed as something like a dark wizard, equal bits of magic and evil. People view this as mysterious and incompatible with reality (you won’t be hired).