HN Explorer

Ask HN: Is Everyone an Engineer Now?

7 points by piratesAndSons ↗ HN
Marketing engineer for marketing people, design engineer for designers, sanitation engineer for janitors — so by that logic, cashier engineer would be next for the people who ring you up at checkout. What is up with this title inflation? Why call yourself an engineer just because you write software? To me, engineers are people who build things and take full responsibility for them — designing a bridge where thousands of lives are in your hands, building an airplane engine, filtering a city's water supply. Not pressing keys on a machine.

16 comments

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appreciatorBus
Same as it ever was...

In the 1700's, "executive" referred to a person or group holding supreme legal power

In the 1900's, "executive" described high ranking business people.

In the 2000's, a junior sales rep, 3 months out of high school, will be given the title of account executive.

good1790
has a big difference though ... executioner is NOT a "human" anymore
rvz
No.

Two common key points about engineering is understanding and responsibility when issues happen. Knowing what to change and why and diagnosing the problem and confidently fixing it when the system goes wrong.

Anyone can play Microsoft Flight simulator.

Does that mean everyone is a qualified captain to fly a commercial plane full of passengers?

austin-cheney
Yes, well no, but yes.

Software developers call themselves all kinds of incorrect bullshit because nobody tells them otherwise.

In the real world, though, engineers measure things. If a given developer calls themselves engineer but cannot measure things they probably aren't what they claim. This runs deeper than just job titles.

good1790
my VA friend is a call center agent and switches to software engineering in a blink of an eye

he is now being paid thru vibe coding as his client doesn't care about the code behind and care only on the "current" outcome

bohdanstefaniuk
> To me, engineers are people who build things and take full responsibility for them

But you can apply the same logic for the software engineer, you take responsibility for the project you develop and lead. You take responsibility to make it work properly in different environments and load. What about software engineers who build software for the planes or rockets?

al_borland
What’s your opinion on the software engineers who write the software that controls the systems on those airplanes? How about those who write the software in cars, or medical devices in the ER?

Lives are in their hands as well.

leros
Don't worry about title inflation, it doesn't matter. In lots of companies, everyone is called an executive.
burhan26
That's a good point about matching finishes—it's the small details like escutcheons that really tie a door together. Have you tried pairing their handles with any particular brand of locks?
daniel-alexande
It's a title that confers respect, so it's an easy way to make people feel better about doing jobs that aren't that great. But, to be fair, I'm pretty sure sanitation engineer started out as a tongue in cheek label.