Junior, Major, Senior Engineer?

Junior, Major, Senior Engineer?
Hi all,

Look I got this question. I'm colombian so my english is not quite good, but if I explain myself, I want to know what or who or when, do you call a person Senior, Major, Junior if we are talking about careers???

I've seen many question like: "How much does a major engineer make?" "How to become a senior engineer?" and stuff like that.

So back here in Colombia you are an Engineer once you finish your career, pass all your tests and present your investigation. And you are called Engineer and that's all.

I have a masters of engineering in structures, son I might be called master, and a doctor is called doctor.

But in USA? Does that depends on the role you play for a company? or depends on your academic studies...? If a guy finishes his career in engineering what title ( junior, major, senior) will take place?

Thanks 4ur comments!

Answer 1:
I don't know how it is in Mexico, Venezuela, Spain or Argentina but in the US, there are academic and corporate titles. When you receive you PhD, you are called a Doctor. There is no special title for (BS=BA=Bachelors) or (MS=Master), like in some countries. You are just called Mr. or Mrs or Engineer.

In the corporate world, there are all kinds of titles and these vary from company to company. After you graduate, you may start off as a Entry Level, Intership, Apprentice, Apprenticeship, Practices or maybe Junior Engineer, Engineer, or Asst. Engineer. You then move up the ranks in that company. It usually doesn't matter too much what degree you have. For instance, a lot of Senior Engineers only have BS Bachelors degrees, but they have a lot of experience.

If you have a PhD, you're always a Doctor, but if you change companies, you may not stay a Senior Engineer.

Answer 2:
As a Electrical and Electronic Engineer (EEE) and member of (IEEE):

Junior Engineer, Major Engineer and Senior Engineer are corporate rank titles, not academic ones.

Actually, I have never seen Junior Engineer; titles went: Entry Level, Internship,
Apprentice, Apprenticeship, Trainee, Practices, most of them are the same positioner or job name or name of the work and some companies they pay you and some others they do not ( cause is a share, they are teaching you and you work free for them). Next level is Major or Middle Engineer, or maybe Assistent Engineer, and the last level is Senior Engineer, then are other corporate titles like: Staff Engineer, Senior Staff Engineer. But I am sure every company has their own nomenclature, all depend on how big the company is and how many employes they employing.

An MS (Master) or PhD (Doctor) might move through the rankings/titles faster, or even start higher, but in my experience the titles are the same.
There is no special title for (BS or BA = Bachelors) or MS (Master), like in some countries.

Note: You are an Engineer or Bachelor of Science in Electronics Engineering or Bachelor of Engineering, or you got a Bachelor Degree in System Engineering once you finish your education and not when you finish your career. No, once you finish your education; career refers to working career unless otherwise specified (english meaning). Once you finish your career you are called retired or pensioned, or pensionary, or pensioner.