Job Titles in Your Resumé

Today I had a conversation with Yvonne, a woman who is a former HR Manager. She raised an important issue with respect to resumé clarity. Her observation was that many people list their current and past job titles on their resumé, and this can actually make the resumé more difficult to understand.

Here is an example. Janet's resumé lists her current job title as Process Design Consultant II. Her responsibilities and activities in this position include: website support, contract negotiation, software development consulting within the company, and running an interactive community of business people.

Is this what the reader of her resumé would expect from the title "Process Design Consultant II"? Is there a basis for real concern in this mismatch of expectations? Indeed there is.

First, the reader's company probably has a totally different set of job titles and will not be immediately able to map between the two sets of terms.

Second, Janet's list of responsibilities and accomplishments might not align with the reader's expectation based on the job title the writer associates with those responsibilities.

Last, this misalignment resulting from the reader's expectations can create suspicion about Janet's integrity when the real issue is simply the misuse or misassignment of job titles by the Janet's employer.

What is the solution?

The simplest solution is to omit company-specific job titles like "Process Design Consultant II" or "Consulting Analyst" and instead list the role, or roles, you have filled. Roles are more easily understood than job titles because role names are not specific to a company. So, list "Java Developer" rather than "Consulting Analyst"; "Project Manager" rather than "Vice President"; "Business Analyst" rather than "Technical Delivery Manager."

When you have your telephone or face to face interview you can explain that you have listed the role names for clarity, and you will be happy to provide the actual job titles if requested.

And as Yvonne emphasized you really must list the actual job titles when you submit a Job Application with a candidate company. This is a legal and moral issue: if you are not completely above-board and the candidate company does its due diligence and uncovers a discrepancy, that may very well be the end of your relationship with them before it actually begins.