Question for all senior developers / lead developers / higher ups out there.

If you were looking for a job, and this company that you applied for which specifically stated that they are looking for a senior developer on the job listing page, asks you to be a junior developer for a few months to prove yourself, would you still be interested in working for that company?

A month or two max... Not sure if it's standard practice but it makes sense. Do you get paid less or something?

@beegC0de Yeah with the salary of a junior developer, forgot to mention that sorry.

I'd ask if they have a plan in place to get you up to speed before you become a senior developer.. if not then they probably just don't want to pay more for a senior

Nope, if you applied as a senior, you don't take a junior role.

That's why you have 3-6 months probation period to get you up to speed and see if you're a cultural fit to the team.

No.
They are just playing with you.

One of my friends experienced this.

3 months jr. Developer
After 3 months they say that not reached expected then salary will be lowered.

Instead.
Ask them 3 months is probation once you reach the expectations give me full time else i will leave

Warning : do not join that company

The opposite happened to me at one company I interviewed with. I was supposed to interview for an associate developer position, and on the first interview they told me that they decided to interview me for a software engineer position instead. I went through three levels of interviews before they said they had decided on another applicant. I got hired a few months later by the same company.

Nope, bait and switch.
In doing this for a while, but not as long as some, there are things a senior can do that a junior cannot. If they don’t need senior level work done then move on.

Unless you need the money, but ymmv.

ehm I'm a "senior" developer. I'm not sure how to be again a junior developer...Should I make willingly more bugs? or be less mature?

Do they mean, you will be assigned shit tasks for the first few months?

No. A lower salary during probation period may be acceptable, if and only if your raise is guaranteed, but there are multiple problems with the Junior role.

1. On your CV this'll look like a degradation. Not a good impression. Especially Senior to Junior? TWO steps down, really?
2. Evaluating if someone fits a Senior role, how does not having them work in that role help?
3a. The attitude. "Proving yourself" goes both ways, that's what the probation period is for. The adult thing to do is to acknowledge that and work together in good faith. The childish thing is the company acting as your "daddy" giving you the candy only if you behave.
3b. In all likelihood that's the general culture: Managers viewing themselves as above you, demanding instead of asking, punishing instead of helping, etc.
4. Obvious trap. The decision happens at the end or even after the probation period. Managers will find a BS reason to not promote you and you'll be stuck as Junior - and the next step is NOT Senior.

It's not your problem that their interview process is too shit to weed out bad devs. So, no---I would tell them where to stick their job.

You communicate your value by your actions. If you will work for junior dev money, that says something to them about the value you place on your own skills.

Like wtf ?
So they can fire you after few months when you do senior job while being a junior, how about you work for free for them and if they’re happy they pay you ?
Hell no.

You didn't specifiy whether you actually applied AS a Senior Dev.

If so, I'd agree with the other posters that this is a bit of a bullshit move.

Otherwise, it COULD be a case of "Yeah, this guy doesn't fit our senior dev standards, but we'd be willing to give him a chance under these circumstances".

If it's the first, though ... b.s. ;)

Thanks for the feedback everyone. FYI I'm not the one looking for a job, it's just that I happened to hear about it when my company's developers and the hiring manager were discussing about looking for new developers.

Never, and I never will, why? For few reasons:

1. If you apply for senior position you don't apply because "wow great salary" but also because you know that you can do that work.

2. if you didn't you wouldn't be even calling yourself a senior developers (well with few exceptions were junior developers throw the "senior" word around and calling them self juniors)

3. There is something called probation, and maybe i would accept a mid-senior position and payment for the first month only, anything longer than that it means they want to exploit you from the start, and after few months they will keep making excuses that you aren't there yet, but that they can keep you working on the same position as junior with small bump in salary.

No way, even at the probation level you should be paid for the advertised role, not an inferior one, imo.

look from a both sides folks, i think it's a legit request, you can't just burst in the company with your own code base, your own habits etc... its easier to adapt one senior to rest of developers then to let that senior to do the hell he wants the first day at work... but on the other side they can keep you as a junior with a salary od a junior but a knowledge of a senior as long as they want... if a request is for a month or two at MOST than its fine

@KorDarei I think that noone who's sane starts in a company like "I'm new, so do what I tell ya."

On the other hand this is a very cumbersome situation.

Changing the contract so the raise is included and based on objective facts would be correct way to go - but starting an employment by distrusting each other is a no go.

So loan must be paid full (when you mention distrust it should raise the eyebrows... If not - Run. Really. Run.)

Instead you could negotiate that during the probation time you'll spend a fixed, short time (max 1 month) with a developer together, working coop.

I dislike job positions / companies which force you to start on distrust and proving yourself.

That should all happen naturally without Intervention....

@KorDarei I don’t think being a senior means “I will do what I want and nobody will stop me”

@vane exactly. Being a Senior means that you are capable of working with less supervision, being able to make educated decisions, being able to mentor others, and being able to learn new things without being spoon fed, or having your hand held.

Nope. Take the role you applied for

@vane sounds more like a junior with inflated ego, actually

No I wouldn't. If I apply for a Senior role, I expect to do and be paid for a Senior role.

This concerns me about what other poorly thought out processes they have.