[TeMPOraL]

I'm gonna guess the career-savvy people just went with no-joke "senior software engineer" or "principal software engineer", because the easiest way to be hired as a senior/principal and get the associated salary bump is to already have that job title on CV from your previous job.

[actually_a_dog]

Sorta kinda. Most people just went with some variation on "software engineer," but I don't think anybody really inflated their title beyond what the norm would have been for their experience level.

Now that I've read what @noir_lord wrote about how it's helped a bit career-wise, I may go back and revise my title to "Code Slinger" or something. After all, given the policy, it's not like they can really call me on it. ;)