What gets you promoted to senior engineer?
As a senior, find simple solutions to problems.
Simple is fast. Simple is extendible. Simple is easy to explain.
As a senior, do things (including boring things) that have an impact.
Business considerations come before our preferences, even before our learning opportunities.
Senior engineers have a reputation for reliability. Maybe not 100% tested code, but they check for basic edge cases and monitor prod for problems.
If you are trying to be promoted to senior, go for the most impactful projects, and do them without complaint. Yes, the code sucks. Yes, the vendor APIs suck. Damn, it's just a CRUD app with zero innovation.
That's where the money is though. And once you have your manager's trust, you will see the most interesting projects come to you. Even better, you will be promoted quicker, having a bigger and bigger impact on your organization.
Ironically, with the above attitude, you are likely to get the most exciting projects when they come up.
Cheers!
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