The Difference Between a Good vs. Promotable Software Engineer

For those of you who want to grow into a leadership role with more accountability, it takes more than razor sharp coding skills to move up in the ranks.

In order to be promotable, you not only need strong set of technical skills but also the ability to infuse a human element into your passion for solving technical problems. As a top programmer, it’s crucial for you to consistently demonstrate your understanding of big-picture business goals by putting people first. If you dive too deep into software development, it can be tough to practically connect those bridges.

We sat down with Jesse Pelayo, product manager at CyberCoders, to dig into what differentiates a good software developer from successful leaders. The best software engineers must be able to adapt and keep a laser focus on the bigger picture in mind. More specifically, to be promotable, you need to demonstrate the following three pillars of leadership:

1. Take an organized and analytical approach to every problem.

Technical projects are all about solving problems with an analytical and organized approach. “You need to be able to take any problem that I throw at you and offer up either,” says Jesse Pelayo, product manager at CyberCoders. He says you need to:

1. Come up with a reasonable solution.
2. Break down the problem into solvable chunks.

As a great software engineer, you’re ready to at least attempt to understand what you’re being asked. For instance, Pelayo explains, if you’re handed an obscure, problematic code, here’s how a promotable vs. average software engineer might answer:

Promotable: Give me a few hours to review the code against our business objectives and let’s regroup then.

Promotable: I know these steps you proposed are right, but we could also look into adding these steps and save some development time down the line, since the validation will limit user error.

Non-promotable: I can’t give you anything because I don’t know what this code does…so why are we having this meeting already?

2. Successfully communicate with non-technical people.

In addition to organizing any given software engineering issue, it’s just as crucial to accurately and successfully communicate complex ideas to folks who aren’t technical.

As a craft, software development can get highly technical. It can be easy to get lost in the rabbit hole of codes and frameworks that seem worlds apart from practical use.

“Strong software engineers can passionately break down problems so that the average non-techie (e.g. project manager, executives, stakeholder, etc.) can understand why you’re changing your approach,” Pelayo says.

3. Bring a contextual understanding and humility to the table.

Rarely can a tech team escape at least some rudimentary work that comes with building technology from scratch. This is where context and empathy comes into play.

As a promotable software engineer, you have no problem taking one for the team and hammering out even the most mundane task because you understand the greater goal.

“If, for instance, 80 percent of customers have said they need a bug fixed, you understand that this particular job may not have high intrinsic value and may seem beneath your skills, but it does strengthen branding, trust and help in the long run to your customers’ satisfaction,” Pelayo says.

And you need to be able to convey this to your team as well. There is no room for big egos in tech teams…no matter where you rank.

“There will always be someone smarter, more zealous or cheaper than you,” Pelayo says. If you want to get promoted, you must believe in what you’re working toward and be able to demonstrate these three essential qualities.