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> I also learned that job titles don’t “make” you anything. It’s kind of like, being a CTO with a 5-person team is different than with a 50-person team or a 500
by arvinsim 7y ago
> I also learned that job titles don’t “make” you anything. It’s kind of like, being a CTO with a 5-person team is different than with a 50-person team or a 500-person team. The job and skills required are totally different, even if the title is identical. So just because I had a “senior” job title did not make me a senior engineer at all. Furthermore, hierarchical titles are inherently flawed, and difficult to compare cross-company. I learned it’s important not to fixate on titles, or use them as a form of external validation.
Unfortunately, they do matter in the real world.
- dullgiulio 7y agoWell, depends. I know people going from CTO of a small start-up to individual contributor in a bigger company, probably for money. Titles count a lot inside an organisation, thought.
- mariefred 7y agoI used to work with one of those, he traded his title and pay for a work permit in another country
- duxup 7y agoThey certainly "matter" but I think the point more is that skills, responsibilities, ability from one place to the next with the same title is not a good comparison.
- taneq 7y agoTrue, but the realisation above is key to understanding how career progression works once you hit your cap. A developer can become a senior developer and then a technical lead and then... what? A manager? You can't really go past technical lead while still staying in the trenches. So what you need to do is be the tech lead for a team working on a bigger problem. Your job title doesn't have to change as long as you're working on a bigger job.