Why Job Titles Can Actually Hurt Your Job Search

[Joywtseo421]

This could quite possibly be one of the toughest questions to answer in recruiting today. The reason it is such a tough question is because it is a double-edged sword. Everyone wants to be promoted. Everyone wants to advance their career. Almost everyone wants a bigger title. A bigger title typically means more pay. Once you have it though, is it actually helping you or hindering you?

In the United States, titles are tossed around like a bull rider riding a bull. Truthfully, a Director, a VP, an Account Executive, a Business Development Representative may be all doing the EXACT SAME JOB! It is quite ridiculous actually. Companies give job titles to candidates to make them want to STAY at their company. Is it prestige? Do employees get a sense that they are building their career? I don’t know. It is just crazy though.

I laugh at this topic because you can call me whatever the hell you want. I have been namibia phone number resource called President, thought leader, resume writer, chief bullshit officer and many other things I don’t want to list here. Truthfully, I am one thing. I am a recruiter. You, too, are something.

Let’s break it down.

Are you a sales guy? Are you an engineer? Are you a doctor? Are you a lawyer? Are you one of those JAVA or Coding peeps? (which by the way, I have no idea what in the hell you do) Yes, you too are something. You may have advanced your career, but on a high level you still do some of the same things you did when you started your career.

Let’s look at a sales person’s career. As a salesperson, you probably started out your career doing lead generation. Once you got good at lead generation, you will advance your career to do inside sales. When you get great at inside sales, it is inevitable that someone will tap you on your shoulder to do outside or “field” sales. If you are killing your quota, management will ask you to manage a team and you will become a Sales Manager. Once you become good enough at managing your sales team, you will be asked to run multiple sales managers as a Regional Sales Manager. After you become a Regional Sales Manager, the CEO will want you to report to him and then they will call you a VP.