Does “senior” in a job title like “senior software developer” denote educational attainment? [closed]

manpreet Best Answer 2 years ago

In my performance review, my manager told me that he compared my salary against prevailing market rates by searching salary data for "Software Developer" and "C++ Developer". He said salary results for "Senior Software Developer" run $15-20K higher than results for the first two titles, but he did not use "Senior" because that word means that the title holder has earned a college degree (which I have not).

Curiously, HR shows my title as "Senior Software Developer". With 20+ years of professional development experience, seven years at my current position and a successful track record of technical leadership within the company, I think I've earned the designation of "Senior", as well as the extra 15-20K that go with it.

Is there a prevailing convention that "Senior" denotes someone with a degree, and is never given to someone who does not have a degree?

manpreet 2 years ago

Is there a prevailing convention that "Senior" denotes someone with a degree, and is never given to someone who does not have a degree?

Not in my experience, no.

Pretty much every company creates job descriptions.

Each description indicates the minimum requirements for someone holding that position, the number of years experience required, along with job duties and other attributes.

I haven't ever seen a job description where the prefix "Senior" meant only "holds a degree". In general, it's never that simple. Virtually every job description specifies a mix of degree requirements and experience requirements. In many cases experience can substitute for a degree.

It's possible that in your shop the designation "Senior" denotes a degree and nobody who is degree-less could ever become a "Senior". In my part of the world, that would be unusual.

In every company where I have ever worked, someone with 20+ years of experience, plus 7 years in the position would almost certainly be at least a "Senior", if not beyond.

If management would let you review the written job descriptions for "Software Developer", "C++ Developer" and "Senior Software Developer" you could probably figure it out very quickly. (In my shop you could ask for and receive any job description on file.)