What does "technical" even mean?
The article explores the ambiguous meaning of the term "technical" in the context of software engineering and organizational roles. It argues that "technical" often conflates hands-on coding skills with deep domain expertise, leading to confusion in career ladders and job definitions. The piece advocates for clearer, more precise language to describe different types of skills and contributions.
Background
- This is a piece from a personal Substack blog (Pip's Thoughts), not from a major publication. The author is likely a software engineer reflecting on industry jargon.
- The term "technical" is widely used in tech job descriptions, career ladders, and engineering discussions, but its meaning can vary wildly — from "requires knowledge of code/algorithms" to "involves deep domain expertise in a non-software field (e.g., chemistry, finance)."
- This matters because companies often use "technical" vs. "non-technical" as a blunt filter for hiring, promotion, and respect, even when the distinction is fuzzy. For example, is a product manager who reads code "technical"? Is a machine learning researcher who hasn't shipped production code?
- The piece likely critiques this binary and explores how the term can be gatekeeping or ambiguous, which connects to broader debates in tech about who gets labeled "technical" and why that label carries status.