Distinguished level > Principal > Senior Age: 46 TC: 710k
How long have you been at Expedia?
This May is my 13th year anniversary
Some start up offered me a title of distinguished engineer Their total comp was $170k
Focus on real startups with solid products and good user base. Don't include startups with like 20 people...
What can a mid level engineer do to reach such level?
Answered this in my first reply ๐
Texas or Seattle
Seattle
Thanks for doing the AMA, I'm not sure if you're really a Distinguished Engineer or not, but I have two questions - 1. How to deal with incompetent Managers? 2. How to win support from managers outside of your team and within your org?
If your manager isn't doing a good job, try talking to them first. If that doesn't work, you might need to tell someone higher up in the company. To get support from other managers in and out of your team, try to be helpful and show what you can do. Work well with others, offer assistance, and communicate clearly. Also, join in on projects and teams outside your own to build relationships and show your skills.
Lol dealing with higher up seldom works they are always friends
Distinguished engineer at Expedia is probably senior at google / meta
^This. Titles are so inflated
Titles until SDE-3 are indeed inflated. Distinguished at Expedia is equal to L7
How do I do the same? Im level 2, getting a promo to level 3 probably. How do I keep levelled up.
You should first let your manager know about your intentions. Lead the team for couple of quarters to a year. Donโt be scared to do demos and presentations to your upper management whenever possible. Remember, itโs just not your performance, you should be on the same page with your manager. SDE-3 promotion isnโt that hard compared to SDE-3 to senior. Good luck
What distinguishes you from others, apart from the title?
Experience and curiosity to deal with problems. What makes me different from others is not just my job title, but also my experience and how I solve problems. I have a mix of skills and knowledge that I bring to the table. Plus, I'm always learning and keeping up with new tools in the field, and have them use in my teams
Nice, thank you for the summary. Do you give company or org-wide talks? And what are competences/skills that are more specific to travel tech compared to classic e-commerce?
Iโm senior swe: age 31, tc: 650k$
Impressive. Doing great ๐
But Iโm tired and burnt out so itโs useless
What should I focus on as a Senior engineer to get to the next level?
you should ask meta that lol
Projects that make the highest impact should be your priority. To move up as a senior engineer, concentrate on leading projects, guiding junior team members, taking charge of important tasks, and helping with big-picture technical decisions. Also, try to learn about the business side of things, collaborate well with other teams, and share your insights and ideas with your colleagues.