Do Job Titles Matter

As a candidate applying for new opportunities, here are some pressing questions I’m sure you are asking yourself – “how important is the title of the next job role in my career? Is it necessary that it’s a step up from my current role? What if it’s not really a step up in terms of the title but from the experience front it could be doing great things for my career? For all future job opportunities would having a step down in terms of job title set off a red flag for recruiters who look at my resume?”

This article talks about the relevance of job titles on your CV from a recruiter’s perspective.

Myth: “Going lower” is a sign of downward career mobility.

A candidate working presently in a manager role might feel worried to apply for a specialist role next as he thinks that it might affect how his career trajectory looks on his CV.

VPs could be worried about stepping back and taking up the role of a Senior Director.

Reality: Job title does not matter as long it enhances your experience and skills

It will come as a relief to those who are interested to pursue their career in a different direction, that recruiters don’t judge a CV based on job titles. Recruiters in general are more interested in what experience you have gained through each role and what value you bring to the table with your experiences to the role.

Recruiters, HR, Line Managers – all of them care more about what experience you have developed in each role and the achievements you have gained rather than what your job title says. In other words, what matters is how you can contribute in the new role with your experience through previous held roles, not the description of your job title.

Reality Check: Make your career a portfolio of valuable experiences, not a linear graph with little substance.

As a recruiter, I feel that a career should be about building a portfolio based on your experiences. You can do that by understanding what the challenge is in the new role, through new products, grasping what the remit is and researching on the scope of the role.

This can be done through working for a larger company, or more direct reports, or working for a bigger region or maybe more challenging products to deal with. Have a larger long-term plan where your job will fit in and enhance your profile as a candidate.

When does the job title matter then?

It must be admitted that many people perceive experience of the individual based on the job title. However, this is a common misconception. The job titles are not designed in the same way from one organization to the other and while moving from one organization to another the hierarchy might not always be linear.

To put in a nutshell, when a recruiter looks at your profile, he sees the experience you bring to the table through the roles you have worked in. Therefore, a “step down” in a job title won’t negatively impact your future job prospects with a recruiter.