>I'm not losing a lot of sleep over the prospect that I'm not as "expert" in my job as a lawyer is

I actually apply this logic in reverse. After seeing how lacking many "senior" developers are - given that we now call you "senior" after just 5 measly years - I've come to realize I shouldn't put much weight in the skills of lawyers (and other professionals) who only have 5 years of experience. Since we're not lawyers (for example), it's easy for us to give them more credit than they deserve, because we don't know enough about the domain to criticize them.

After just a couple of years experience, developers can still write pathetic spaghetti code. If you're gonna high a lawyer with a couple of years under their belt, imagine them bungling your case like it's the codebase!

While I don't think you're a bad person for doing those things, can you see how this (repeated by enough people) produces the new-entrant-hostile hiring environment we currently have?

Sure, but I think it would be foolish to do otherwise. I was new once too, and even after I'd done my first job people were hesitant to call me back with no relevant degree and my only experience being in a small shop mostly working alone (for significantly less than the market rate, I should add). Now I managed to make my way past that gauntlet and I'm enjoying the fruits of my labors as a "senior" developer. I don't think I'm doing anything other than responding to the incentives created by the system.

Absolutely! Though would you still consider yourself a "senior" developer, if a "mid-level" or "junior" starts working with you and happens to exceed your skillset in very noticeable ways? I know I've hired some exceedingly excellent programmers that made me feel rather amateurish!

I guess what I'm trying to say titles are fairly arbitrary - and yes, the system is in need of a little shake up! Enjoy the perks the title brings, and stay humble :)

The titles are more or less arbitrary anyway. I'm not that hung up on it.

So is working for a living wage. Imagine how much room there would be for new entrants if you were paid $8 an hour! Everyone who wanted to could have a programming job.