I'm in the same boat as you (American, no degree), and I mostly agree (though I think that a debate around the value of college itself should be had, because I think there are too many cases where it isn't as high as people think it is).
1. The way I handled this was to insinuate on the resume that I had a degree. I went to a university for a couple years (before flunking out) and before that I did a couple summer classes at an extension program. Those add up to four years, and I point out that I studied computer science (which is true). If they don't outright ask that's not my problem. And if they do then I explain that something personal came up, and not completing it is one of my biggest regrets in life, but at this point I don't see how a degree would help my career blah blah blah.
This has only actually affected me once, and it's for a role I'm starting this week. The net effect is that my software engineering title can't have "Engineer" in it because I don't have an "Engineering degree".
3. A degree doesn't resolve that. I interview people every week for a role at my MAGMA company, most of whom have degrees, and most of whom act like they have impostor syndrome. Practice it. Do interviews for companies you don't expect to join just for the interview practice in a low-stakes setting. You'll get over it.
"The net effect is that my software engineering title can't have "Engineer" in it"
Where is this? There are plenty of people in Software Engineering (with Engineer as their title) without engineering degrees (or college degrees at all), even at large companies like Facebook/Google etc.
Without being super cagey, let's just say I understand their rationale, and it's not entirely un-legit. I found the role via a Hacker News "Who's Hiring" post. My title is going to be "IT Consultant", and it will have zero impact on my compensation. I don't really have a problem with it.
This is the rule in Canada, at least. I wouldn’t be able to call myself an Engineer here with my CS degree, despite having had several such roles in the US.
You wouldn't be able to be call yourself and engineer even if you had an engineering degree.
You need the professional accreditation. Which you can incidentally get without having done an engineering degree, but it requires passing a lot of exams.
That sounds like some weird company/person specific thing.
have heard this come up with respect to professional engineering certifications in some states. But I believe those don't even exist in the US for software at this point--and even in some states where there are supposedly restrictions on using the term, those seem to be pretty widely ignored.
It's a weird company-specific thing. I think part of it is that the company does a significant amount of traditional engineering under the same contracts.
It’s about the political pecking order at a company.
If you’re working at a law firm, non-attorneys are often a lesser stratum of human. Likewise, engineers in some engineering company will see IT people as pretenders to the engineering throne.
Some people gain joy in finding creative ways to be assholes. It’s just how humans are wired.
And certainly at least Big Law (at least up to the point where you become a real rainmaker--which you probably won't make without the other things) has a lot of fixation on schools, law review, and clerkships.
In most other Anglo countries you can get engineer in your title as a developer (and it is beneficial as it tends to be higher compensated than programmer or developer titles in my experience).
1. The way I handled this was to insinuate on the resume that I had a degree. I went to a university for a couple years (before flunking out) and before that I did a couple summer classes at an extension program. Those add up to four years, and I point out that I studied computer science (which is true). If they don't outright ask that's not my problem. And if they do then I explain that something personal came up, and not completing it is one of my biggest regrets in life, but at this point I don't see how a degree would help my career blah blah blah.
This has only actually affected me once, and it's for a role I'm starting this week. The net effect is that my software engineering title can't have "Engineer" in it because I don't have an "Engineering degree".
3. A degree doesn't resolve that. I interview people every week for a role at my MAGMA company, most of whom have degrees, and most of whom act like they have impostor syndrome. Practice it. Do interviews for companies you don't expect to join just for the interview practice in a low-stakes setting. You'll get over it.