Comment by klodolph

Agreed BUT… they are still useful for talking about roles, responsibilities, and the kind of staff you need for a team.

You just can’t trust that somebody who was Staff Engineer at Yoyodyne has the skills you’d expect from a staff engineer. Sometimes because of title inflation, but also for other reasons—some people really do weasel and connive their way into promotions. We had an L6 (here, the level of a staff engineer) who was an absolute menace, and was great at telling lies to management. Every company has people like that, so you always have to vet new hires.