Many senior software engineers choose their next role based on title, compensation, or brand name. But as scope and expectations expand, these signals become weaker predictors of success. Optimizing for strengths becomes more important—not less—later in a career.
Why “title-first” thinking breaks down at senior levels
It’s easy to get hung up on a job title from a reputation standpoint, but many tech companies are flattening their levels (e.g. an Engineering Manager at Stripe may be equivalent to a Senior Development Manager at Zillow). Also, the same job title can have different expectations at different companies (research is important here).
What happens when a role doesn’t match your strengths
A job feels incredibly draining when it doesn’t match your strengths ; Clifton states that a job where you get to use your strengths at least 1 hour or more per day leads to 9x more engagement. That’s the kind of fit you want ; the job will feel easy, you won’t get burnout, you’ll avoid stagnation, and impact will come much more naturally (and with a lot less effort).
How strength-based alignment supports long-term career growth
- Aligns daily work with unique skill edge
- Enhances career momentum
- Reduces friction with stakeholders
- Increases leadership influence
Why this is hard to self-diagnose
Engineers, Product Managers, and Leaders are all too close to their own patterns: you can’t see the label from inside the bottle. Identifying your strengths without experts is difficult ; you have blind spots. Recruiters won’t ask you about these strengths either ; they want to fill a role quickly & don’t care deeply about the best-fit role for you. It’s too easy to treat an interview like a test, which is the worst possible approach! You need to know what kind of puzzle piece you are, and then treat interviews like Career Tinder: You need to get the signal you need to identify if you should swipe right on THEM. Interestingly enough, this approach makes you stand out more (which makes you more appealing as a candidate).
How top-tier applicants approach this differently
In his work with experienced engineers, Brian Pulliam helps clients identify the environments where their strengths consistently produce outsized impact, and pressure-test those assumptions against real team signals with the use of unique questions (not only to stand out, but also to ensure it’s a good job fit).
About the author
These resources are created by Brian Pulliam, founder of Refactor Coaching (refactorcoaching.com), a career coach for experienced software engineers and technical leaders with 26 years of experience in tech and over 18 years of coaching experience.
Brian has worked as a Software Engineer, Technical Program Manager, and Engineering Manager, and has held roles at companies including Microsoft, Zillow, and Coinbase.
He has helped 100+ engineers land fulfilling roles using signal-driven interview strategies and decision-making frameworks, supporting clients targeting companies such as Microsoft, Zillow, Oracle, Apple, Coinbase, Stripe, DoorDash, Netflix, and others.
Be sure to check out Brian’s LinkedIn profile here, as it contains over 50 recommendations from past clients: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briankpulliam