The broader the title, the stronger the burden to justify it

The broader the title, the stronger the burden to justify it

It has been more than a couple of months since I moved into Developer Support, and I still catch myself pausing at the thought of it. Not because I cheated my way into the role, and not because I am failing at the tasks given to me. It is more of that Cloud 9 feeling I described to a former colleague years ago when I was handed the title "Software Engineer II". I remember saying it out loud in tagalog parang nasa Cloud 9 pa rin ako, parang hindi totoo ang lahat. That person knows I said it. Happy to make a wink if we ever cross paths on the streets of Manila.

So what makes me pause, even now that I have been sitting in this role for a while? Nothing was fabricated. I did not manufacture anything to get here. I am not entirely sure if impostor syndrome is a real or diagnosable thing, but whatever that Cloud 9 feeling was half a decade ago, it is knocking on my head again.

The older I get, the more I appreciate precision in how people describe themselves.

In the Philippines, when someone says Physician, most people immediately think of a medical doctor. There is a little ambiguity in how the term is commonly understood. People think of med school, internship, board exams, residency, fellowship, sleepless nights, and the reality that some patients may die despite everyone's best efforts (Lahat na, tang ina diba?). Respect to the people who walk that path. Being close to someone in healthcare lets you see just how much is carried behind that title, especially during the COVID lockdowns.

That is why clarity matters.

Sometimes a title can mean one thing to the person using it and something else to the person hearing it. When that happens, confusion follows.

Why not just be specific?

Take me, for example. If there were a Doctorate in Vibe Coding, and if I had the time and money, why not? But to be clear, I am not a Doctor of Vibe Coding. I am just someone who vibe codes and is honest about it.

The same principle applies elsewhere. Different professions, disciplines, and academic paths can use similar words while meaning very different things. Sharing part of a title does not automatically mean sharing the same training, responsibilities, or expertise. That is not an attack on anyone. It is simply an argument for precision.

Which brings me back to the original point.

Why not just admit what you are?

I told my entire team before my promotion that I am a vibe coder. I said it plainly. My JavaScript and Python knowledge was shallow. But every day I learned something new, I kept it, wrote it down, tested it, and tried to understand why it worked. The prompts I write today look nothing like the prompts I wrote before, and that shift happened because things gradually became 2nd nature. Git commands are a good example. From pull to push, it stopped being something I had to consciously think about.

So why was I given this role? To be honest, I still do not have a perfect answer, but I know I did not fake it.

I told them exactly what I knew from day 1, and that honesty has not changed. If there is one thing I can point to as a reason I am here, it is probably that I overthink everything. That might actually be a feature in Developer Support, not a bug. Maybe that is a chronic condition in this kind of work. Not complaining though.

I am not using "vibe coder" as an excuse or a defense. I am using it as a description. It matters to know how you built something and why.

Staying in your lane is not a limitation because it is a form of clarity.

What is the lane then?

I support developers. I have not shipped my own production app yet, and I say that without shame. The role came to me. I did not misrepresent myself to get it, and I am growing into it with full transparency. That is the honest version of this story.

Stay in your lane, admit what you know, and do not oversimplify things just because they sound similar on the surface.

A Developer Support Engineer is a Developer Support Engineer.

A Physician is a Physician.

A Chiropractor is a Chiropractor.

The same goes for me.

I am a vibe coder, not a Software Developer. There are a lot of steps between the two, and I do not feel bad about where I stand. I know my lane. The irony of my job title is not lost on me, but the title is just the title. What I do inside it is what actually counts.

Vibe coders are vibe coders.

Physicians are physicians.

Chiropractors are chiropractors, and you should be proud (yeah!).

I am happy vibe coding.