How good does Senior Developer look on a Drupal site developer resume?

June 19, 2013 8:01 AM

I'm about to get a job offer from a small, but reasonably successful, Drupal development firm. It sounds like they may offer me the title of "Senior Developer." In most corners of the software industry, as I understand it, Senior Developer is a good title that implies you're an established professional with 5+ years of experience; 3 years at a bare minimum. The thing is, I actually only have a couple years of part time experience (though with a pretty well known site) and don't have a software related degree. Will future employers interpret "senior developer" the usual way--making this a really nice resume item? Or is the definition looser in the content site development field?
posted by anonymous to Work & Money (3 answers total)

I'm a tech guy who hires technical staff and I pay relatively little attention to titles. It is certainly more positive than a title like "Junior Developer" which often isn't a developer at all, but I'm going to be able to look at the overall context of your resume and have a pretty good idea where you are at. It is quite helpful if you were hired with very little experience as one title and rapidly promoted to a senior title at the same firm. I always notice that and find it to be a very positive sign. Too few people note those kind of title progressions on their resume, IMO.
posted by Lame_username at 10:09 AM on June 19, 2013

(I am a developer and I hire developers).

When I look at a resume, I notice a bumped up title if it's a promotion within the same job. Otherwise, I look at it as nothing more than an indication of salary bands.

Example: in my previous job, I was a System Architect, and the only thing that it indicated is that they had lower overall salaries so they had to bump up my title in order to fit me into a higher salary band. In my current company, where salary bands are higher, I am a Mobile Software Engineer, despite the fact that mobile is only a small percentage of my work, and I am in charge of a team.

Ditto for other people's resumes; there seems to be little connection between title and actual experience.
posted by rada at 10:41 AM on June 19, 2013

Best case scenario: The senior keyword either causes a recruiter on linkedIn to find you, or makes them slightly more interested in you above other candidates to follow up with.

Worst case scenario: zero change.

People in the field know that titles are free. Within a large firm that has salary bands and title promotions, it means something. With a small firm like Acquia, Squishy Media, $random_drupal_consulting_firm, it's a cheap way to flatter you and impress the clients. Similar to how "Vice President" works in Fortune 500 companies.
posted by pwnguin at 12:39 AM on June 20, 2013 [1 favorite]