Ask HN: When does one become a senior engineer

[CiuB]

I often see my colleagues put something along the lines of "Senior Engineer" in their job title in LinkedIn etc. Some are working the same length of time as myself, 3 years as a software engineer, and in the same position as myself. I feel like this is misleading, what are people's opinions on this? And when do people think it is appropriate to call yourself a senior software engineer?

[rumanator]

Senior is always relative to the organization you're working in. Don't waste your time keeping up with the Joneses. Just worry about the best version of yourself you can possibly be.

[illuminated]

When both you and others around you agree on your seniority.

For you it usually happens when you start seeing fresh engineers around you going through issues you've past beyond long time ago. For others, when you start helping them with those same issues.