Do Job Titles Matter in the Long Run

[sdyson31]

Do job titles matter in the long run?

I have been working as a Senior .Net Developer and its all hands on development role but there is a small element of mentoring junior developers (allocating work, code review, general guidence). I have an opportunity to work for a different company as a Development Manager, my responsibilities are almost same but job title is different. Just wondering if it matters in long run.

[Thurbs]

Difficult to say unless you know what you want at the end of the long run?

The word "manager" may be a good thing, or it may not be.

[RichwiththeS2000]

Look beyond the title and see if the role will bring you greater joy in your life ;-)

Job titles in IT/programming fields are usually completely random/inaccurate/downright funny.

[daemon]

RichwiththeS2000 said:

Look beyond the title and see if the role will bring you greater joy in your life ;-)

Job titles in IT/programming fields are usually completely random/inaccurate/downright funny.

The most unusual one i had was an IT Service Management Role, where i was the Service, Asset & Configuration Manager.

My wife and son found it funny that i was the SAC Manager.

Edited by daemon on Tuesday 8th September 18:45

[daemon]

sdyson31 said:

Do job titles matter in the long run?

I have been working as a Senior .Net Developer and its all hands on development role but there is a small element of mentoring junior developers (allocating work, code review, general guidence). I have an opportunity to work for a different company as a Development Manager, my responsibilities are almost same but job title is different. Just wondering if it matters in long run.

The manager role sounds like you have responsibility for managing the people, which is very different to mentoring them.

Also, your current title keeps you in a technical vein. The other takes you towards a management route.

I would say this particular differential could matter greatly in the long run.

Depends what you want really.

Edited by daemon on Tuesday 8th September 18:46

[StevieBee]

The only place a job title matters is on your contract of employment - you need to know what you are employed as.

To the outside world, I tend to think it matters less.

[daemon]

StevieBee said:

The only place a job title matters is on your contract of employment - you need to know what you are employed as.

To the outside world, I tend to think it matters less.

Agreed, however development manager, and with people responsibility implies a team manager type role.

As long as the O/P is clear on the role, and is happy with what it says then thats all that matters really.

[daemon]

StevieBee said:

The only place a job title matters is on your contract of employment - you need to know what you are employed as.

To the outside world, I tend to think it matters less.

Agreed, however development manager, and with people responsibility implies a team manager type role.

As long as the O/P is clear on the role, and is happy with what it says then thats all that matters really.

[blueg33]

Can make a difference on a cv when it comes to looking for a job, headhunters and HR people pigeonhole people very quickly based on job title

I had a headhunter call me after seeing my title on linked in, the salary for the role was a third of my salary and my level of responsibility is very high, but my title is easily misconstrued

[ant leigh]

In this case I guess not but job titles can affect insurance
For example a job title with 'sales' in it can put up car insurance.

[BobSaunders]

I look at job titles and cover letters of experience to ensure they contain certain phrases or key acronyms.

Again, it depends where you want to go in your career. Hands-on/operational route, or leadership route.

[edc]

Job titles matter if you are looking for an up the hierarchy career (and hand in hand with that, increasing salary). People will want to see some clear and logical progression with increasing responsibility/budget/headcount/geography etc.

But, you can call yourself whatever you want on a CV. Use the interview where necessary to qualify your contractual title and what your role scope is.

If your CV reads like you are a software developer over 10 years and 3 companies with minor changes to your responsibility or achievements then it's hard to position yourself for a role a few jumps upwards.

If your title belies your actual responsibility then get creative eg:

Senior Developer (15 million budget, 30 multifunctional headcount in 5 countries)

[shouldbworking]

I've had jobs with the same responisibilities to the ops over the years, titles ranging from Application developer to Technical Architect, and it means nothing. I've known three people who have jumped at lofty job titles 'IT Director' or similar, only to discover it was either a 1st line support role with added infrastructure and development bits, paying a pittance, but you get named as a director on the company so you can share the debt when it goes pop.

So long as you can explain your skills when you go to look at another role i don't think it matters

[AyBee]

Tend to think that if you're looking for a job, title matters, if you're staying within a company, I'd rather have more money than a decent title

[MadDad]

IMHO job titles are quite subjective from one company to another, they only matter if you let them and if they are tied to your income - otherwise they are just a title.

I have been a Senior Project Manager in the past for a large software company, the difference between my role and that of a PM was the size, complexity and value of projects - so there was a difference. I also contracted as a PM for the NHS - the difference between Snr and non-Snr seemed to be length of service, I was running projects 3 times the size of the Snr PM's for the same ££££.......

Don't get hung up on a title, job satisfaction and income are king and queen!

[ChasW]

Mostly meaningless in my experience. In American banks it seems everyone is s VP. A few years ago I met guy who owned quite a successful IT company. His title was CEO. On his business card it read Chief Enthusiasm Officer. Brilliant!

[prand]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

So do recruiter's search tools. the right keywords to attract the right attention is very important.

[edc]

prand said:

anonymous said:

[redacted]

So do recruiter's search tools. the right keywords to attract the right attention is very important.

Absolutely, as usual first impressions count.

Your CV content may show the experience and responsibility needed for the role being applied for but if it is not obvious or there is a big mis-match to the CV job title, you introduce doubt to the reader's mind whether that is an HR person, third party recruiter or hiring manager.

Some people will skim the headlines first before looking at the detail. This is why a good CV is important. It's not just the achievements and line detail but the layout, headings and the key info your eyes are drawn to make a difference. If your organisation uses job titles that are so obscure and almost unique to the internal organisation then you have to be creative and use something that is more in line with and understood by the external market.

[944fan]

blueg33 said:

Can make a difference on a cv when it comes to looking for a job, headhunters and HR people pigeonhole people very quickly based on job title

I had a headhunter call me after seeing my title on linked in, the salary for the role was a third of my salary and my level of responsibility is very high, but my title is easily misconstrued

I've found this. My job title is Head of IT or IT Director. That is completely meaningless and I am basically a lead developer / development manager. I've applied for lead dev roles and been turned down because I'm over qualified and its a backwards step. They can't seen past the title to what I actually do.

I've now changed my CV to say Lead Deveoper

[sideways sid]

I'm happy for an employer to give me whatever title they want if they give me the package that I want!