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Comment by alkonaut | Hacker News Reader

In what markets are titles common for technical people such as developers (apart from megacorps where they seem to be universal)? Would you ever have a formal job title as a developer at a company of 20 developers in e.g the US?

I have had to invent my own title for as long as I can remember because there aren't fixed roles/positions/titles at the company (In the sense that you are hired at a certain role/title.).

I'm now probably some kind of "Senior developer", or "Lead developer" or "Architect" or whatever. And I'd introduce me as such if someone asked. But I don't think this title exists in some database or contract anywhere. When we hire we some times call it "senior developer" just to mean experienced. But we don't have pay grades that means this new hire would necessarily be making more money than anyone not senior.

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apart from megacorps where they seem to be universal

So factor out a huge part of the job market?

SV startups are a small percentage of the overall tech world. Legions of programmers are hired in traditional companies in finance, energy, tech, aerospace... And on and on and on.

And in most of those organizations, titles are common.

Moreover, regional cultural differences greatly affect the value of a title. A person in California or Colorado often sees titles differently than someone in New York or Boston. And many cultures outside the US often view titles as extremely important as an outward measure of success.

> So factor out a huge part of the job market?

I was just trying to exclude them from my question. I realize megacorps in all countries and all industries have titles. So they aren't interesting for my question.

> And in most of those organizations, titles are common.

I'm in a very traditional business and I don't have a title, or know many developers that do in small/medium organizations. Hence my question.

> the question you pose just illustrates how cloistered you may be.

I imagine I am. Hence the question.

BTW, I took out that last paragraph, I was being a dick.

But I don't think there's a clear answer to the question, other than "they're pretty common".

My bet is that they're more common on the east coast than the west. As for specific industries, that I can't speak to, though companies with strong HR departments sometimes like titles since it makes salaries and promotions a lot easier to manage.

> In what markets are titles common for technical people such as developers

Common (but not universal) in most. Though they can be as general as “member of the technical staff”.

> Would you ever have a formal job title as a developer at a company of 20 developers in e.g the US?

Often yes, though it's not certain, even in a large org.

> But we don't have pay grades

Pay grades aren't the same thing as job titles; in large orgs (including government), it's possible for pay grades and job classifications to be universal, but titles to still be hit or miss.

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