To a busy recruiter scanning your resume, job titles are an immediate giveaway. Your present and previous job titles are among the first things recruiters look at. Thus, in only 10 seconds, those titles can create either a positive or negative perception of you! Why?
Because employers believe that if you have one or more job titles just like or similar to the position you are applying for, you will also have the experience they want to hire. They're looking for a good "fit".
Start to address this serious problem as follows: At the top of your resume, try to E-X-P-A-N-D your Job Objective to cover a number of job titles or job descriptions that are being advertised in 3-4 job ads in your field. For example, in the field of corporate training, you should write a LONG HEADLINE as follows: Corporate Trainer / Training Facilitator / Training Specialist / Learning Specialist . Now try to back this up in a bulleted Summary section that includes about 7-10 items of related education, training, experience, technical skills, achievements, and supervisory or management skills.
[Career changers can only offer TRANSFERABLE SKILLS -- NOT matching job titles in the "Work Experience" section of the resume. Instead, they have to offer UP FRONT, a bulleted SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS that includes all of their related experience and transferable skills. Please see my post on CAREER CHANGE RESUMES, dated April 2009.)]
But never exaggerate your job titles or tell lies in your resume. You are NOT permitted to change your job titles to suit a job ad -- unless you can legitimately and honestly claim to have done that work and that the actual job title you were given is inaccurate, unfair and should be adjusted. Believe it ot not, there are many, many such cases.
In a recession, desperate job seekers often try their luck. Unfortunately, a previous job title like Owner or President or CEO will be too big (overqualified) for a position such as Office Manager and "Accounts Payable Clerk" may not be enough for such a position (underqualified). Both titles will be a bad "fit". The CEO will be asking for a bigger salary than the employer is willing to pay, may get bored quickly and even quit. The Accounting Clerk is not "ready" and may need to be trained to manage an office and staff. (Company presidents who apply for junior-level jobs are the first to be screened out! HR people don't need all of their skills and experience.)
If you seek a supervisory or management-level position, have you worked at or near that level before? Can you fairly record your present or previous job title as "Actual Job Title /Assistant Supervisor / Acting or Temporary Manager"? You may safely write this if you have substituted or "pinch hit" for your supervisor or manager or boss during his or her absences from work, including illness and vacations. This will make you look more senior and more "qualified" for the position advertised.
The suggested ADDITION of a job title similar to the one you are applying for (actual title plus additional job title) gives employers what they want to see. Do it. It works.
Here is a typical scenario of how unsuitable, inaccurate and and unfair job titles are often given by employers who don't know what suitable job title to give you and don't even care about what you'll have to record in your job resume:
Peter V. wrote as follows: "The job title I was given by X company was "Manager of I.T. Network Services" but I subsequently had very little to do with network services. Instead, I managed many Oracle projects. So I repeatedly asked to have the title changed to "I.T. Project Manager." After 18 months, my boss finally agreed that I had managed every Oracle Project in the company. But he never put the paperwork through.
"So, I finally spoke to the HR person who developed the job descriptions and metrics for every position in the company. But, he didn't or couldn't help.
"After leaving the firm, I talked again to my boss and he agreed to support my claim that I had been a Project Manager. In my resume, I record my "adjusted" title as: "Oracle ERP Systems Project Manager". This is an accurate description of what I actually did and it is fair to me. I am NOT deceiving anyone."
Exactly. This is what job seekers sometimes need to do when employers are simply unfair and uncaring. Thousands of job seekers can tell a similar story.
Exaggerated or overblown titles are sometimes given in smaller firms (because titles are cheap). For example, "Director of Marketing" in a 5-person company. This should be "downsized" and the strange titles in larger companies may need to be reworded and even "upgraded". And what does GS-9 or GS-11 mean in the private sector? You may need to change such a government title to "Senior .. Whatever."
Finally, instead of presenting a variety of job titles that might look like a fruit bowl, try to shape or adjust a few of them so that your resume can have a focused look that employers want to see. But you need to do this honestly and fairly. (You might even have to omit a job or two. That will be the subject of another post.)
The entire subject of "tampering" with any job title that a previous employer gave you, may seem to be less-than-truthful. Not so, if it is justified. The job title given to you by a particular employer, refers to your position within the hierarchy or pecking order in that company. It defines who you report to and how much you should be paid, but it seldom describes what you really do! The title can be downright unfair and not do much for you in your job resume. But most employers couldn't care less about that!
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mattgreene@aol.com
Tel.: 1-718-436-3504
Copyright, 2006-2010 by Matthew Greene. All rights reserved.
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JOB TITLES IN A RESUME
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