Actually, I sometimes wonder about it with my job.
I’m not doing the actual development. I get that’s part of being a more senior engineer, but it makes me feel far less effective and skilled when all I do is communicate requirements, balance client needs vs business and infrastructure requirements, and review code and documents to ensure another team of engineers can support it.
But then, usually in some crisis scenario when shit is going down, the engineers responsible for the development become deer in the headlights. Instead of letting everyone panic, it’s up to me to identify what broke (or what wasn’t working to begin with) implement or communicate any workarounds, and get tickets/tests written up to be worked on/fixed and prioritized. It’s those situations that remind me that a lot of our jobs aren’t that flashy, but without them, nothing in the world would work.
Actually, I sometimes wonder about it with my job.
I’m not doing the actual development. I get that’s part of being a more senior engineer, but it makes me feel far less effective and skilled when all I do is communicate requirements, balance client needs vs business and infrastructure requirements, and review code and documents to ensure another team of engineers can support it.
But then, usually in some crisis scenario when shit is going down, the engineers responsible for the development become deer in the headlights. Instead of letting everyone panic, it’s up to me to identify what broke (or what wasn’t working to begin with) implement or communicate any workarounds, and get tickets/tests written up to be worked on/fixed and prioritized. It’s those situations that remind me that a lot of our jobs aren’t that flashy, but without them, nothing in the world would work.