How to Hack Your IT Seniority (Without Learning Another Framework)

Introduction

When I first started getting into IT, everything felt overwhelming: languages, frameworks, paradigms, tools… it seemed like an infinite universe.

Back in 2018/2019, I wanted to learn Python and came across courses on Python and Python 3 🤯. If I want to learn Python, do I have to go through them one by one? Is it like a movie saga? Can I start with the third one, or will I be missing some lore later on? 🤔 It sounds like a joke, but it actually happened: I had to ask a friend which one I should start with 😅.

I have to say that, as the years went by, that feeling of IT being this huge universe you never get close to knowing completely didn’t let up. I think it happened to me again with the whole AI and LLM boom, but that’s a conversation, or a blog post, for another day.

Over time, working first in Help Desk and then as a Data Engineer (or Data Developer), I realized I would “never” be able to cover everything technical. There would always be new technologies and frameworks I wouldn’t get to master.

What I did discover, almost indirectly, was that there were other ways to grow too: attitudes and soft skills. They aren’t always visible or measurable, but they make a huge difference in how we progress in seniority.

In this post, I’ll share the ones that, in my experience, helped me the most along the way.

Ownership

Taking ownership means being responsible not only for the tasks or tickets assigned to us, but also for their impact. It means anticipating problems, looking for solutions, and not waiting for someone else to fix them. I think all of us have thought at some point, “this isn’t my problem,” or “X is an issue outside the scope of my ticket Y, so it can be someone else’s problem next sprint.” It’s important to move from “this isn’t my problem” to “how can I help solve it?” And that applies both to our own tasks and to our teammates’ work. Personally, I think this is a huge differentiator we can offer and, without a doubt, a major step in professional growth.

Managing priorities

In IT, there will generally always be more tasks than we can cover. That’s why learning to distinguish between what’s urgent and what’s important, and when to prioritize each, is so important. Production might go down and force us to handle emergencies on the spot, while at other times we may need to prioritize a “structural” improvement and explain why it can’t keep being postponed.

Learning to explain why something deserves priority even when it isn’t urgent is a key part of growing. If we manage priorities well, we’ll also manage our time better.

Effective communication

Knowing isn’t enough; knowing how to communicate is just as important. Being clear in an email, a Slack message, or an explanation during a meeting prevents misunderstandings and moves projects along faster. It’s one of those skills we pick up and learn on the go and through experience, even if there are a few good practices to follow.

From my point of view, and together with ownership, I think these are key traits that help us stand out as professionals, regardless of our role or seniority.

Collaboration

Collaborating with teammates at different levels of seniority matters, and it goes both ways. If we have experience with a particular subject, it’s important to offer support to teammates who may not have it as clear. At the same time, if we’re just starting out, asking questions is great. That creates a kind of super valuable feedback loop. Shared knowledge scales better than individual knowledge.

Curiosity / Looking for challenges

Closing a ticket and forgetting about it can be tempting sometimes, but almost anything we do has room for improvement or a little something extra we could add. If a three-hour task took us two, it’s worth using that spare time to investigate whether there’s another solution, or even to suggest an improvement to something that already exists. We can add a lot with what’s already within reach, both to the quality of what we deliver and to our own learning. Keeping that curiosity alive matters, because refusing to stand still keeps pushing you toward the next level. It also gives you a lot of visibility: people see you as someone who proposes ideas, not just someone who closes Jira tickets.

Closing thoughts

These attitudes don’t depend on a framework or the latest trendy tool in tech. They’re habits you can start practicing from any role and at any experience level, and in my case they were key to growing in seniority.

I’d like to know: what other attitudes helped you along the way? What would you add to the list?