When a company hires All Around the World to develop new systems or work on existing ones, they're sometimes surprised to find out that, with few exceptions, we only hire senior engineers. We're not a "body shop." We're the experts you hire when you need things to work and you've discovered that the $100 a day freelancer wasn't such a bargain after all (true story).

So when a self-described intermediate developer asked me what I meant by "Senior Developer", and does it just meant "time on duty", I realized that what we're looking for is different from what other companies look for. We have high standards and a difficult hiring process, but it's worth it.

What follows is my (edited) response to that developer.