Revealed! What Your Job Title Tells Potential Employers About You

By Selipha Kihagi

Ever taken time to think carefully about your current job title? You may be okay with your responsibilities and daily tasks, but are you satisfied with your job title? Most people make the mistake of assuming a job title to not mean so much. But the reality is that your job title is very important when it comes to your career. It determines how other people see you, what salary someone in your position deserves and even whether clients want to interact with you or not. It also plays a great part in the hiring process.

Think about it, when was the last time someone asked you about your daily tasks? Most of the people you meet will ask you what you do for the organization, expecting you to mention your job title. Also, when recruiters are looking through your CV to determine if you are qualified for a certain position, they will on most occasions look at your previous job titles. If they are looking to fill the position of an Accounts Manager and it happens you have been an Accounts Assistant for the most part of your career, you may get bypassed for the role. Why? A recruiter may consider you inexperienced for the job.

To this regard and in order to avoid confusion later in your career, pay attention to your current job title and ensure it matches your experience level. Because a job title is more than just a phrase, it is important in these 3 ways.

1. Your job title indicates your expected salary

Whenever you are applying for a job, you will probably see a quoted salary for that particular position and sometimes this will be given in range form. Most times the amount provided is usually matched up to the job title and not necessarily the responsibilities involved. Is this right? Probably not, but even as you do your research on expected salaries, most times your results will come back based on the job title.

So think about your current job title and do your research on similar titles. Ask yourself; does your salary reflect your responsibilities or is it just in line with the generic job title that is your job?

2. Your job title could directly affect your reputation

Reputation at work is usually very important and could determine how well you move up from one position to the next. Your job title could directly affect how your co-workers view you or even how clients relate with you. And if your title is wrong, then the same reflects on your work and you may end up not commanding respect as you should.

For instance; the way most customers or clients will address someone in management is not the same way they will address someone at a lower level. It is a discrimination that exists and there is nothing much you can do about it. So if your role can match up to someone in management but your job title picks you for someone two positions down, you will not receive the respect you deserve. This will then affect your work, how you relate with potential employers and if you get recommended for future roles.

3. A job title may be a barrier for future career opportunities

As mentioned earlier in the introduction, recruiters can use your job title to determine if you get the job in question or not. Most people work under generic titles that are just allocated for the sake of it. That is part of the reason why people have witnessed their job titles changing once they got hired.

For instance, you come across a position seeking for a Business Development executive but once you get hired, the title changes and you now become a Sales Executive. While you may not see the problem initially, this mere change in titles will come to cause you problems in future.

So if you find your job titles changing for no particular reason, don’t hesitate to ask your boss about it.It could be that your title changed once you got hired or maybe you were promoted but your title remained the same. Whatever your job title story is, make sure your roles and responsibilities reflect your current job title.

Job titles are as important as your duties and responsibilities. So whenever you find yourself raising eyebrows because of your allocated job title, remember to address it or even propose a change.

Selipha is a Communications Officer at Corporate Staffing Services, a leading Recruitment firm that offers CV Writing, Job Placement & Career Advice. If you have any queries, contact: [email protected]