How To Position Yourself As A Senior Hire (Not A Junior Developer)
Why Career Changers Position Themselves Wrong
Most people think "new to coding = junior level" and apply accordingly.
Reason #1: They follow social media âadviceâ instead of studying how career change has been done for centuries
Reason #2: They have not measured how much their professional skills transfer to development roles
Reason #3: They focus on what they can't do instead of what they have done
Reason #4: They take advice from CS grades who are not career changers
The good news? You can sidestep all these positioning mistakes by understanding why hiring managers prefer certain candidates in the first place.
Here's how, step by step:
Step 1: Identify roles that value your domain expertise above pure technical ability
This is crucial because most companies would rather hire someone who understands their business and can learn their tech stack than someone who knows every framework but can't contribute strategically.
For example, if you spent 10 years in healthcare, apply to health tech companies for " Product Developer" or "Solutions Engineer" roles rather than generic "Junior Developer" positions. Your ability to understand HIPAA requirements, patient workflows, and compliance issues makes you immediately valuable in ways a coding bootcamp graduate could never be.
Step 2: Frame your transition as specialization, not a career change
Most people make the mistake of presenting their background apologetically, as something to overcome rather than leverage.
Don't say "I'm transitioning from finance to tech." Say "I build software for finance."
Same background, completely different positioning. You're not leaving your expertise behindâyou're applying it in a new medium.
Step 3: Make the âsenior devsâ compete with you (not the other way around)
This is where everything clicks togetherâwhen you find companies that need exactly what you bring.
Instead of applying everywhere and hoping someone takes a chance on you, target companies in your industry vertical who are desperately seeking people who understand both their business domain AND can build software solutions.
These companies will pay senior-level salaries because you solve two problems at once.
Five ways we can help you:
1. Wondering what learning to code actually means?
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