How to Talk About Your Projects Like a Senior Engineer

Hello “👋”

Welcome to another week, another opportunity to become a great DevOps and Software Engineer

Today’s issue is brought to you by TheEngineeringLadder→ A great resource for devops and software engineers. We break down career-changing lessons in DevOps and Software Engineering to help you level up fast.

💡 PS: Before we dive into today’s topic, I have something special to share with you...

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A few months ago, I was reviewing the portfolio of a junior DevOps engineer I was mentoring.

She had solid projects — a CI/CD pipeline, a Dockerized app, and a simple monitoring dashboard.

But when I asked her to explain what each project did, she said:

Technically true.
But that answer doesn’t stand out in an interview.

Because here’s the truth —
how you talk about your projects often matters more than what you built.

Why Most Engineers Undersell Themselves

Most engineers describe tools instead of impact.

They say things like:
👉 “Built a CI/CD pipeline.”
👉 “Implemented Grafana dashboards.”
👉 “Worked with Docker and Kubernetes.”

That’s a list of tasks, not a story.
And interviewers don’t remember tasks — they remember outcomes.

How Senior Engineers Communicate Differently

When a senior engineer explains their work, they connect it to results.

They say things like:
👉 “Reduced deployment time by 70% by automating CI/CD with caching.”
👉 “Improved reliability by 30% using Grafana alerts to detect outages early.”
👉 “Deployed 10+ microservices on Docker Swarm, achieving zero-downtime releases.”

Same work.
Different impact.

One says what they did.
The other says why it mattered.

Here’s a Simple Framework You Can Use

The next time you explain a project, use this format 👇

Problem → Action → Result

Example:

• Problem: Manual deployments were error-prone.

• Action: Built an automated CI/CD pipeline using GitHub Actions and Docker.

• Result: Cut deployment time from 20 minutes to 5, enabling faster feature delivery.

That’s the difference between “I built a pipeline” and “I built something that saved the team hours every week.”

This Week’s Challenge

Pick one project from your portfolio or resume.
Rewrite the description using the Problem → Action → Result format.
Then read it out loud.
If it sounds like something you’d hire yourself for — you nailed it.

Final Thoughts

Tools don’t make you stand out.
Impact does.

The engineers who rise fastest don’t just build things.
They communicate how their work drives real outcomes.

That’s what makes you sound like a senior — even before you have the title.

If you’re ready to level up faster, check out my new Notion template —
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