[leed25d]

First of all, most titles --but by no means all-- are bullshit. I prefer titles like {Junior, Senior, Lead, Chief} Programmer or Member of Technical Staff (I, II, III, ...}. Although I have been assigned titles like DevOps, Engineer, Developer and so on, my Linked In profile reads 'Programmer'.

[Zelphyr]

I used to think so as well until I realized that some companies pay more for an Engineer than a Programmer.

[leesalminen]

I found the same. It's about how you market yourself to prospective employers. Any sufficiently technical staff member knows the title is BS...HR does not. You just have to back it up with the knowledge.

[vacri]

At $job-2 I was at a small company, and I was tired of seeing my colleagues with lofty titles, so I changed my email signature's title from "System Administrator" to "Grand Duke of Information Infrastructure" (I had no client contact, and most external contact was with vendors and rare). I intended to have it thus until I was told otherwise or a max of a week or two when I'd grow bored of it, but it was liked so much that the website was altered to match...

[peterburkimsher]

Titles are important for immigration purposes, e.g. for Canada's work-to-residence Express Entry visa.

Software engineer: 3-4 years work experience required, maybe Masters degree, professional certification. http://www5.hrsdc.gc.ca/NOC/English/NOC/2011/ProfileQuickSea...

Computer programmer: Bachelors degree required, no work experience. http://www5.hrsdc.gc.ca/NOC/English/NOC/2011/ProfileQuickSea...

"Progression to information systems analyst, software engineer or Web designer is possible with experience."

[tjl]

The reason why professional certification is needed for the visa is because the title of engineer is regulated in Canada.

[malcolmgreaves]

To me, saying "programmer" implies that one has no understanding of the crucial mathematics underlying the nature if computation. A programmer only knows how to slap together JS with the latest framework, throw it on top of RoR with code copied from a dozen SO posts, and say "job's done." An engineer uses mathematical reasoning and scientific knowledge to solve the problem. This is certainly a subtle difference. But it speaks volumes.

[leed25d]

Well, I think that you would be wrong in that assessment.

Jack Dorsey calls himself a computer programmer and so does Douglas Englebart. Mark Zuckerberg, Richard Stallman and James Gosling all call themselves computer programmers and not one of the people I have mentioned calls themselves an engineer. I think that if you are a lowly computer programmer then you find yourself in some good company.

[RivieraKid]

Agree, although junior vs senior is mostly bullshit too.

[kls]

Agreed, I had a designer work with me on a contract who was inqusitive. I showed him that git can undo all his mistakes without affecting the team, taught him a good JavaScript foundation, and pointed him to some good resources. In a month he was proficient, in 6 you could not tell him from any other senior. He is out in the valley now doing well.

Moral of the story is inquisitiveness and problem solving are the two big skills to look for. Anyone can learn syntax.