Comment by Supermancho

> I've worked with engineers who've been hired at a higher level than I believe they are due to negotiating their compensating package higher,

This is the only thing that matters. Skillsets and expectations differ from company to company. Who cares what they call you? What matters, to me, is how much you can extract. If you can't contribute, let another engineer (or group of engineers) make an argument for why you should be demoted or fired. They will have to contend with whoever hired you, which will include a manager and their record of hiring and other factors. It's not really worth it.

I was pretty fearless and was successful in getting people let go, a lot, when I was under 30. It helped that the biggest factor is politics and/or market conditions. I have also been let go because of similar reasons...eg I wrote a bad review of a manager and I didn't follow esoteric standards I didn't know about. Eventually, by the time I was 40, I had a good sense of how people could grow. Now I categorize people as useful to me or not, when I'm leading a team.

Either way, titles are bullshit. You will still be judged by them, within the context of your current employer.