If I ever reach the level of an IBM Fellow or similar as a software engineer, I won't care about whether you'll call me a "software scientist" or "man with long beard" or "that guy". I promise.
The engineer becomes a kind of nomadic hermit (“Principal Engineer”)
"hermit" implies some level of isolation. Is that really the case of distinguished/principal/fellow engineers? Is there any evidence or data available?
Principal and Distinguished are, usually, titles added to convince HR to pay market salaries.
Mgr: "We'll need $140k to get him."
HR: "The band for Senior Engineer is $100k to 125k."
Mgr: "So you can't do $140?"
HR: "Nope."
Mgr: "What if I hire him for a *Principal* Engineer position?"
HR: "I need to talk to the CFO about whether we need Principal Engineers."
Comments
If I ever reach the level of an IBM Fellow or similar as a software engineer, I won't care about whether you'll call me a "software scientist" or "man with long beard" or "that guy". I promise.
"hermit" implies some level of isolation. Is that really the case of distinguished/principal/fellow engineers? Is there any evidence or data available?
Principal and Distinguished are, usually, titles added to convince HR to pay market salaries.