kernoble

Why do so few companies have procedures for leveling up more junior developers? I've noticed that quite often junior devs are very productive, but will operate in a limited scope, without much concern for the big picture, and sometimes struggle to build skills that would allow them to qualify for a more senior role.

When I was a junior dev I found this frustrating because there was an expectation to "act senior" before actually having that authority. Additionally, there was an unspoken expectation that you had to ask for it, which seems to just go against the (inaccurate) belief that so many in this field have that it's a meritocratic.

This seems especially disadvantageous for anyone who feels less comfortable in their role/standing and is less assertive for this or other reasons. I could imagine this is an even bigger problem for people who are different from the current makeup of the team/org, especially for people who are from under-represented groups.

What is your procedure for this as a manager or employee? Is there something I'm missing?

Does anyone know what Google's current hiring outlook is? I know they slowed hiring a few months ago. So are they still reducing headcount growth? Are they only considering really exceptional or specialized candidates?

I know several people who have applied with internal referrals (included myself) and been denied with semi-automated emails. This is surprising considering some of these people have been fast -tracked in the Google interview or have gotten offers from other competitive tech companies (FB, Amazon, etc.)

This seems odd, so I was hoping someone on HN could shed some light.