I don't put much care in titles at all, including my own. If someone wants to call me QA, Software Quality Assurance, Test Engineer, Engineer in Test, Programmer, Coder, That Chick Over There... whatever. Some dev engineers get salty over QAs being called engineers, but we're all here to write our Node apps so whatever, one gets shipped to users and the other verifies the first one meets the feature specs.
Seniors aren't smarter or better at their jobs just as engineers aren't smarter or better at their jobs. Some companies base title on knowledge, some on levels of education, some on abilities, some on years of experience, some on a whim... an Intermediate Programmer could have more clout and technical duties than a Senior Software Engineer that has just been with the company for a few decades and breaks whatever he touches.
Since titles are decided by an HR rep somewhere, I don't put any pride or opinion in them at all. I'd rather just be known by my work.
If I got to pick a title, though, I'm pretty sure I'd go with Nerd. That'd be fun.
I think what mostly got me riled was the tone in which the term was used. I am a fairly easy going guy, and while I take pride in the fact that my title is Associate Software Engineer, I DEFINITELY don't expect someone to use that specific title when referring to me and what I do. Programmer, Developer, Coder, Computer Guy, Keyboard Clicker, Software Engineer, Write of all things Codez, Geek, Nerd, etc, I don't mind. Its when someone takes on of those and uses it in such a way as to diminish someone else, THAT'S what I get bothered.
If I could pick a title, Bearded Fellow would be nice.
Also, that's awesome that Netflix calls their tech experts "Nerds", I have a feeling being a Netflix Nerd would be fun. Thanks for your opinion!
It's fair to be bothered when someone's putting you down, but I'd focus on that tone and how they were brushing you off rather than word choice. At that point, it seems like getting riled up on a title or job descriptor rather than your treatment.
Like, specifically the prompt/title was about being called Coder. Meh, it's a word. Meanwhile, someone who thinks they're better than everyone else going "Eww, he's a coder" is an issue even if it was them being "Eww, he's the head of interspace travel." (I spent a lot of today reading the archives of Chief O'Brien At Work)
Also, that businessy person is a jerkface, so at least you learned that from the meeting :)
That is a very good point! I wrote the article soon after the meeting while still somewhat heated from the transaction. It might have been a better idea to wait until I had cooled down a bit. The meeting was also heated, but for other reasons that made sense (:
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I don't put much care in titles at all, including my own. If someone wants to call me QA, Software Quality Assurance, Test Engineer, Engineer in Test, Programmer, Coder, That Chick Over There... whatever. Some dev engineers get salty over QAs being called engineers, but we're all here to write our Node apps so whatever, one gets shipped to users and the other verifies the first one meets the feature specs.
Seniors aren't smarter or better at their jobs just as engineers aren't smarter or better at their jobs. Some companies base title on knowledge, some on levels of education, some on abilities, some on years of experience, some on a whim... an Intermediate Programmer could have more clout and technical duties than a Senior Software Engineer that has just been with the company for a few decades and breaks whatever he touches.
Since titles are decided by an HR rep somewhere, I don't put any pride or opinion in them at all. I'd rather just be known by my work.
If I got to pick a title, though, I'm pretty sure I'd go with Nerd. That'd be fun.
I think what mostly got me riled was the tone in which the term was used. I am a fairly easy going guy, and while I take pride in the fact that my title is Associate Software Engineer, I DEFINITELY don't expect someone to use that specific title when referring to me and what I do. Programmer, Developer, Coder, Computer Guy, Keyboard Clicker, Software Engineer, Write of all things Codez, Geek, Nerd, etc, I don't mind. Its when someone takes on of those and uses it in such a way as to diminish someone else, THAT'S what I get bothered.
If I could pick a title, Bearded Fellow would be nice.
Also, that's awesome that Netflix calls their tech experts "Nerds", I have a feeling being a Netflix Nerd would be fun. Thanks for your opinion!
It's fair to be bothered when someone's putting you down, but I'd focus on that tone and how they were brushing you off rather than word choice. At that point, it seems like getting riled up on a title or job descriptor rather than your treatment.
Like, specifically the prompt/title was about being called Coder. Meh, it's a word. Meanwhile, someone who thinks they're better than everyone else going "Eww, he's a coder" is an issue even if it was them being "Eww, he's the head of interspace travel." (I spent a lot of today reading the archives of Chief O'Brien At Work)
Also, that businessy person is a jerkface, so at least you learned that from the meeting :)
That is a very good point! I wrote the article soon after the meeting while still somewhat heated from the transaction. It might have been a better idea to wait until I had cooled down a bit. The meeting was also heated, but for other reasons that made sense (: