Senior Engineers Reduce Risk
My gripe with the "Senior Engineer" title is that I've NEVER met anyone with 5+ years experience who didn't view themselves as "senior".  Usually 3+ years.<p>In a market where there are more job openings than employable candidates, and competition for talent leads to rampant ego-stroking and title-inflation... the term "senior" has become just another word for "competent".  Someone who can work independently without hand-holding.<p>So how do we verbally distinguish <i>that</i> from, "<i>No, I really DO mean 'senior'</i>"?  Most people get 40+ working years in a career.  How do you encourage humility and self-awareness, so that people don't honestly believe they've reached the 90th percentile after the only first 10% of that journey?