[csixty4]

I second sdeveloper's comment. This is about establishing authority, not being pigeonholed. Pigeonholing is something done to you regardless of what you do. Pigeonholing doesn't make you the #1 result on Google for a term. Pigeonholing tells you that because you're the #1 result for "French chef" in Google, you're not qualified to make tacos.

[philipmorg]

You're right, that part of the interview really was more about the fear of pigeonholing for the independent dev/consultant, not the actual results of pigeonholing for the FTE.