Does it ever make sense to turn down a promotion?

[zanirzrold]

TL;DR - Is accepting a senior engineer role with 2-3 years of experience wise?

After graduating two years ago, I took a job as a junior engineer at a top level engineering company in Silicon Valley. I worked my ass off and tried to elevate those around me, but felt like office politics were slow tracking me and keeping me from the position / pay I thought I was worth. Last week after an interview with another company which I did very well on, I got an offer as a senior developer with nearly double my current salary. I immediately said yes, but now I'm second guessing myself: am I setting myself up to fail miserably? I definitely feel like I am a 3-4x engineer and have the performance reviews to back it up, but I'm also worried that I simply don't have enough experience (2 years + 2 summer internships) to do what it takes to be a senior engineer. Is this just imposter syndrome? What makes an engineer "Senior" or not besides just saying "experience"?

[freedevbootcamp]

Dude you got this. Just break out the books, the videos and start brushing up on everything like you were back in school. Find out what technology stack they use and start building lots of side projects. No days off. You want the answer to the question on the tip of your tongue. Act like a senior engineer and you will be one. Give it 120%. Good Luck.

[greenyoda]

1. If that company hired you for that job, they probably think that you have the skills they're looking for to be successful in that job. And it sounds like you're willing to work hard and learn new things. So I'd recommend that you go for it.

2. The title of "senior developer" doesn't have a fixed or precise definition. For example, in one company a senior developer may be someone who has 15 years of experience, has shipped several big projects and has played the role of a lead developer. But in another company, someone with 15 years of experience may be considered to be to old (35+) or expensive to hire, and a "senior developer" is someone who has had 2-3 years of experience.

[aurizon]

Engineering firms often offer new hires more than recent(1-3 years) hires because inflation at the hire level is driven by scarcity but year by year inflation is governed by cost of living plus 2-3% and COLA has been on a very slow upramp due to the depression and aftermath. The new job company knows the newhire level of wages plus the wages you get (more or less) and they see in you some potential. As others have said, if you were properly assessed by the hiring interview, you need have no fear of the future. You just have a little fear of the unknown - do not hide under covers - go out, slay dragon(s)

[petersouth]

Even if you did fail, the experience gained may be worth it. Have you learned most of what you can learn in your current position? I would think you have within that two year span.

[JSeymourATL]

> but now I'm second guessing myself: am I setting myself up to fail miserably?

Give the managers at the new company some credit. They likely had a formal screening and scorecard for the interview process. You might imagine that they have interviewed hired several people in the past.

Assuming you were truthful in your discussing your skills, background, and experience-- they recognize your potential and believe you can be accretive to the team. Move onward and upward.

[seijaku]

Really depends on the position a lot of the time, sometimes a Senior Dev role can be very focused on experience over everything else, other times I have seen Senior Dev roles where it was more about mindset and attitude, which might well be the kind of role you're talking about here.

I'd say back yourself and go for it. Always better to dive in the deep end and be challenged than to stay static and not learn