Job Titles Are Meaningless

What’s in a job title?

Before starting my career in the software industry. I always saw peoples job titles as badge of accomplishment or experience. But my views have strayed far from that now that I’m in the biz. With only around 2.5 years experience and being located in a city with very few software companies. I have been given multiple job titles that sounded great, but usually misrepresented my actual work or skillset. I mean after just a year of working at a startup I was given the title of Lead Web Developer. I was proud of it at first but realized it just didn’t really fit someone with so little experience. Junior Web Developer, would have made a lot more sense.

Why do I think job titles are so cheap?

Because they can be given for many reasons that degrade from the actual meaning of the title itself.

• To give the employee a feeling of importance.
• To give a reason to pay someone less or more.
• The talent at the company or in the area just isn’t very good.
• Sometimes the employee doesn’t do anything near what their title specifies.

Don’t judge a book by its cover!

I’ve witnessed companies hiring based solely off of previous job titles without truthfully assessing the employees actual skills. I’m permanently scarred by the hiring decisions that were made at a failed startup I used to work for. I’m sure this sounds extremely ignorant and like common sense, but people are doing it.

Next time you see someones job title in a resume, LinkedIn profile, business card, or wherever else. Take some time to ask them what they do and ask to see some of their work. Theres a pretty decent chance they will probably do more or less work, or a different job than you expected.

Related Article: “What’s In a Job Title?” by Michael Lynch