What’s in a job title?
A week back I publicly shared a thought about professional titles that ignited quite the dialogue. While the essence of my message was to be patient when it comes to advancing your job title, I may or may not have also said something about why you shouldn’t care about your job title…
After having a dozen or so discussions on that thought, I wanted to circle back and clarify my comments.
Early Career Designers
This is the group I spoke directly to in my podcast a week ago — those who leave college, a boot camp, or an online course and think they’ve “arrived”: There is so much more to learn. Even after seven years, I’m still learning and writing Medium articles to clarify miscommunications. :facepalm:
I’ve seen this situation too often: A UX designer with less than a year of experience leaves their internship or associate position because another company offered them the position of Senior UX Designer. I get it. That title is very appealing, and maybe you deserve it, but why rush?
After school, I was lured into two different startups, and both jobs came with the really fancy title of Creative Director. I was stoked out of my mind. Impressed with myself, I was on top of the world, just weeks out of school.
It took me about four years to realize that the title was hurting me more than it was helping me achieve anything. I needed to check my ego.
Being the creative director at a company of 8–20 people means very little, just like naming yourself the CEO of a lemonade stand or one-man shop. My fancy job title actually hurt me when I tried to get a new position because I actually lacked the real experience that typically comes with that title.
But don’t let that be discouraging — just be patient! The UX profession is booming. There’s a lot of work out there, and businesses understand the UX value add. It’s better to be the associate designer who’s killing it than the senior UX designer who’s second guessed.
Be patient. Communicate with your manager or mentor. Learn all you can. Trust that the people above you will see those efforts and give you the opportunity to advance. And if your efforts aren’t noticed by your leaders? Say something, then work together to create a plan for your advancement that includes reaching goals and demonstrating skillsets.
5+ Year designers
You’re scratching your head wondering, “Why haven’t I received the promotion that’s long overdue?”
You’ve been patient, yet it seems like the only way you’ll be promoted is by either securing another offer and accepting it or using it as a vehicle for a retention-based promotion. I’m sorry. This sucks.
Evaluate other metrics to analyze your current position. How satisfied are you with your compensation, with the work you produce, the company culture, and your coworkers? Are you happy there?
If you answered yes, then you should plan with your manager for career growth. This requires more patience, but hey, you’re being taken care of in the meantime.
If you answered no, then take action.
Your manager might have a lot on their plate, so this may not be top of their mind. Or maybe it is on their mind, but they’re not in a position to do anything about it. This is your life and career, so take control of what you do with it. Use this as a learning experience. Your career is still young, and you have time for more success.
Design managers & recruiters
We look for many things when we interview candidates, including how they’d fit an open position. Let’s vet candidates on their background, experience, and what they can bring to the table — not by what their previous employer did or didn’t do.
If you’re going to offer a senior-level position, pay them a senior-level salary. Stop using fancy job titles to lure candidates into positions.
Emily Weiss, the CEO of Glossier, was asked in an interview about things she’s learned as an entrepreneur, “[What’s] One thing that you would not have done, that you’d have taken back?”
“One thing that I would not have done, that I would’ve taken back? Title inflation. This is very specific, but I was actually talking to our people person, our HR person, we call People Team, to say, “You need to write a blog post on Medium or something that’s like The Secret Killer to Startups: Title Inflation.” You’d think it’s running out of money or having bad product market fit. I actually think it’s this very specific thing, maybe I’ll write a blog post about it, but just don’t give out titles. Don’t give out titles, don’t make people VP, SVP, Co-CEO, Whispering Operator Extraordinaire. Just don’t do it because if you’re gonna build something for many years, you’re gonna have to unwind that and it’s gonna be really painful.”
When you hand out fancy job titles like candy, there’s no taking them back when your business begins to grow. When you decide to give out a title like Senior UX Designer or Director of Product, make sure this won’t cause you headaches in the future.
If you’re going to keep someone at a mid-level position because you can’t afford to give them the raise or promotion they deserve, be communicative. Retaining talent is worth an awkward or uncomfortable conversation.
What I’m NOT saying
“Your job titles don’t matter.” There are so many cases in which they do matter. You need a title for your resume, and you need to know the titles of jobs you’re considering.
TL;DR
Don’t let your job title go to your head. Be patient. Communicate your desire for career advancement, and find a job on a team that reciprocates that.
