If you don't work IT, retail, or food service what do you do for work?
Sometimes on Lemmy these seem like the only jobs that actually exist, but I'm sure there's a lot of people here with different and unusual lines of work.
Software engineers don't really -- well, in the US anyway, might differ elsewhere -- have a formal accreditation process, which I understand is common in other areas of engineering and is a bit of a point of friction with people in some other fields. Like, you don't get to just roll up and say "I'm a civil engineer and I'm building a bridge now" the way you can a software engineer writing a software package.
I don't especially think that such a process would be incredibly practical, but...shrugs
I can't speak for other engineering trades or even other software degrees from other universities but I know my degree was ABET accredited (US) for what it's worth. A massive chunk of our education was instilling the engineer's mindset in terms of architecture, design, test-driven, development QA/QC, and coordination and integration with other specialties in the system. I really do wish there was a protection over the title, for I agree some may call themselves software engineers but were never actually trained in the engineering design process.
I'm an electrical engineer, and I've always considered any field where your design work makes you directly liable for the safety/well-being of others earns you the title of "Engineer".
"Engineering" as a verb is something most anyone can do. Working to understand a problem and then developing a solution is a universal joy for people of any age and skill.