The T-Model for Senior Career Growth

The T-Model offers a straightforward way to assess our skills. The vertical part of the “T” represents deep expertise in a specific area (like Java, Playwright, or Locust) or a few of them, while the horizontal part encompasses broad knowledge across various related fields (such as React, SRE, Ansible, Docker, Accessibility Testing). Regularly analyzing job listings can help identify these related areas, thereby increasing our employability.

Professionals advancing to senior roles often face sudden and varied expectations: from showcasing knowledge and aligning processes to creating tools that enhance the impact of their work on others. There’s also a need to learn new tools (like React) to build dedicated pages for stakeholders.

I observe many seniors who prefer to stay within their specialized “bubble.” This is permissible, but they must realize that it could complicate their promotion to Senior+ positions. For testers, I often see an over fascination with a single tool, referred to as the “Church of Playwright,” overlooking more critical aspects like selecting the level of tests or the surrounding processes (e.g., CI). Sometimes, it’s better to choose a testing tool and method in conjunction with the frontend team, which requires empathy and a willingness to compromise.

The T-Model is also an excellent tool for assessing the skills of our team members. If we notice a tendency to stick to comfort zones (like only using Selenium and Java), we can create work systems that enforce greater versatility and discuss these issues during one-on-one meetings. As leaders, we should feel responsible for the employability level of our charges, especially in the current job market climate.