How a colleague helped Santosh realize he was performing at a higher level at work than his title

Colleague assumed staff engineer status during introduction

While visiting the Munich office, a teammate introduced Santosh to another colleague as a 'staff engineer,' mistakenly believing he held that title based on his professional presence and how he carried himself.

External perception revealed hidden career progression

The incident highlighted that while Santosh saw himself as a senior engineer, his teammates and peers already viewed him as operating at the staff level.

Already performing staff-level engineering duties

Santosh realized he was owning critical systems, fixing complex issues independently, and working across different teams—responsibilities typically associated with staff rather than senior engineers.

Impact invisible to oneself but obvious to others

As the conversation revealed, Santosh was the only person who could not recognize his own advancement, while teammates clearly saw his staff-level impact and technical ownership.

External validation as promotion catalyst

The realization that others perceived him at a higher level served as the primary motivation for Santosh to formally apply for promotion to staff engineer.