[MalcolmDiggs]

As developers, I think our collective definition of "junior" and "senior" is very different than in most professions.

In other industries (think electricians, welders, doctors, attorneys, etc) you'd still be very "junior" if you only had 3 years experience.

And my theory is that a lot of HR and Executive folks are trained to think that way; they just haven't bought into our way of seeing things...and they don't necessarily appreciate how quickly things change in this industry; and how quickly people can up their skill-set to senior levels.

[brudgers]

With the exception of welders, the other trades you mention are all licensed professions. In the case of welders, serious work requires certification and gets inspected to reduce the chance that someone dies.

A runaway online shopping cart can't crush a child. It's more the case of lower standards in software.

[CyberFonic]

But the same lax standards are used by the likes of Toyota when developing software for their ECUs - now that has resulted in crashes and fatalities, see: http://www.edn.com/design/automotive/4423428/Toyota-s-killer...