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Leveling

Behavioral interviews is where interviewers assess the candidate's maturity depending on the stories they tell.

The levels mentioned below are based on Google and Facebook's levels.

Junior Software Engineer (L3)

  • Takes direction from managers and/or senior members of the team.
  • Executes on well-defined tasks without too much guidance.
  • Primarily improves their own skills and craft.

Software Engineer (L4)

  • Understands project purpose and helps to achieve the team's objectives.
  • Splits larger projects (typically feature work) given to them into smaller tasks for timely execution.
  • Suitably balance between delegating tasks and performing tasks themselves.
  • Improves their own skills while possibly mentoring more junior members, interns, or new hires.
  • Collaborates cross-functionally with guidance from senior members of the team.

Senior Software Engineer (L5)

  • Leads development on complex tasks and projects within the team.
  • Identifies well thought out solutions to ambiguous projects of large scope
  • Breaks solution down into smaller projects and delegating some of them to team members.
  • Proactively seeks new ideas and directions to build the product better.
  • Mentors multiple junior members of the team and help them to improve by being a role model.
  • Works cross-functionally independently and drives complex, ambiguous discussions.

Staff Software Engineer (L6)

  • Understands business goals and advises managers and organization leaders to achieve the goals.
  • Leads or greatly influences direction of a team of engineers.
  • Demonstrates domain expertise and is looked up to by other engineers.
  • Conducts clear, long-term planning across teams/within the organization and drives consensus.
  • Mentors tech leads and junior members of the team.
  • Works on projects requiring interactions with engineers and cross-functional partners across multiple teams.

Senior Staff Software Engineer (L7) and beyond

  • Owns organization/company-wide business/engineering goals and delivers on them.
  • Influences or leads product and engineering roadmaps within the organization/company.
  • Leads solution development and delivery for highly complex and ambiguous areas.