Warning: If You’re Using These Job Titles, Stop Right Now!

Well said. Never be clever; be clear.

We had a run-in with what titles to use way back. Owner? Operator? Yuck. Entrepreneur? Sure, I am one, but that’s not what I do. (Also, up here, an entrepreneur runs a construction business - I build sentences, not buildings.)

Writer? Well, okay, yes, that fits. Creative writer? Ugh, I think of Danielle Steele novels. Freelancer? Yes, I freelance.

Freelance writer?

Well, YAH. That’s what I am and what I do. Keep it Simple, Stupid ;)

Thanks James - glad you’re one of the ones who agrees! “Never be clever; be clear” is a great mantra. I might adopt that myself…

I chose to blend clarity and creativity in my Title. It says the two main things I do web design and graphics without sounding pretentious. I’d love to hear an argument against it. I’m not attached to it. Let me know what you think. My current title is listed below. The Graphic Geek part may be a bit to silly.

Sean Hodge
Freelance Web Designer and Graphic Geek

I have some similar issues with wearing so many hats. This year I’m stepping up my writing game so I may need to add writing into my title. Half of my income will likely come from writing this year (Guest Blogging, My own Blogs, etc.).

You’ve given me alot to think about thanks. Maybe something simple like

Sean Hodge
Writing, Graphics, and Web Design

I’ll be redoing my portfolio site in the next month. So, this topic is timely. Thanks.

Great post and very to the point. Making a good impression is so important, and when it comes to your title you don’t want something goofy or something that could be seen as untrue.

I’ve been seeing your ad on several popular blogs lately and I finally came on over to check it out - I’m glad I did. I’ve subscribed. :)

Thank you for writing this. Now I don’t have to.

Great article. I think the one that I would include is the title ‘Consultant.’ It is often too vague and I have to end up asking more questions, just because I have no idea of what type of consulting and individual actually does. Simply put, if you consult on small business you are a, ‘Small Business Consultant.” If you help people find and build their personnel, for their business, then to me you are a ‘Human Resources Consultant.’ I have encountered, Non-Profit Consultants, Financial Services Consultants, Insurance and Securities Consultants and so many more, and they all introduce themselves as a consultant. Simply stating you are a consultant doesn’t tell me anything, other than you likely are a project manager at heart and you like sharing all the information in your head with others, as a service of course. If you are going to have the title consultant at least display some sort of information on exactly what you consult on. Something like;

Private Consultant, Financial Services
Consultant, Marketing and Communication

I don’t know, it’s just a thought.

My current titles are; e-Marketing Consultant, for my e-Marketing group and Executive Director at a non-profit, which was given to me, when I accepted the position, and it is somewhat fitting. I manage a team of 5 other directors and 9 managers, for the organization, and it is at the executive level.

I am an Art Director and have no problem in saying so.

I applied for the position of Art Director and was given a business card with Art Director printed on it.

I agree with much of what is said in this article (especially the issue of people calling themselves “creatives”). However, I work in a network agency and it does not bother me to be called an Art Director and it certainly does not confuse anyone or anything.

@Sean: I’d be inclined to drop the “Graphic Geek”. It’s a bit of a fuzzy title that could be interpreted in several ways, and comes dangerously close to #13. I’d stick with Freelance Web Designer.

@Tay: Thanks for the compliment and for subscribing. It’s great to have you on board!

@jdawkinsati: Yes, “Consultant” can be a funny one. As long as you use it like “Freelancer” by adding your field of expertise, there’s nothing wrong with it. You’re spot on with Executive Director too - if that’s what you actually do then of course, use it and enjoy it! Thanks for chiming in.

@Matt: Absolutely nothing wrong with “Art Director” - you work in an agency doing that job and of course it’s right to use it. It’s the people who work for themselves and use the title to sound more important than they actually are that worry me! Thanks for adding your thoughts.

Nice post, however I do have a certain fondness for the early days of Apple when people were allowed to choose their own job titles. There was one person whose title was Chief Obfuscation Elucidator.

@Tony: “Chief Obfuscation Elucidator” - that’s brilliant! As much as it pains me, I’d have to file it away somewhere between #12 and #13, probably in its own category: 12.5 The General Smart Arse Title :)

The “Princess of Power” title at #12 was actually inspired by a friend, who put it forward for her own position in a similarly liberal company that claimed to operate a “flexible” job title policy. Needless to say, they just weren’t that flexible.

I would be happy to use something ealse instead of GRAPHIC ARTIST, but I dont’t think English offers a good alternative.

In here we call this job GRAFIK, and I think it’s good, pretty universal.
I think that’s what they call it in Germania as well.

I’ve been an Art Director in NYC for many years and a Creative Director for 5 years. I think you have your head far, far up your ass if you think I should be called anything other than what I AND MANY OTHERS get paid to do. When I freelance — I use the the same title because that’s what they’re paying me for. Clearly you know nothing about the creative profession and should do a little research before writing such a misguided article.

@Noah: My goodness! In defense of the article, I read it to mean that the title ‘Creative Director’, while perfectly appropriate for someone of your position and experience, is a tad pretentious for a one-man operation based in the spare bedroom. In other words, it is in deference to your title, not contempt. That said, I’d like to add, and I do so with all due respect, that you seem to be exactly the kind of person who calls his friends “f**k face”.

How bout ‘Senior Executive of Creative Direction’?

Most redundant title ever?

@Noah: It sounds to me like all that Directing is taking its toll on your stress levels. I’ll say it again - there is absolutely nothing wrong with calling yourself a CD or AD if that’s what you do. My beef is with people who call themselves that just to elevate their status.

This is particularly common in the UK with Freelance Graphic Designers. I have worked with freelance Creative Directors and Art Directors, respect many of them, fully understand that a Freelance CD is a valid job title and know exactly what the job entails - if your portfolio, abilities, and daily work reflect such a title, then yes, use and enjoy it. If not, don’t. I hope you can now see that my fight isn’t with you.

@Bill: Thanks for your support! Nice to see that you’ve interpreted the article the way I intended. It wasn’t meant as a stab at any one job title; rather a simple warning to the thousands of freelancers using titles that don’t fit.

@Warren: I’ve yet to see that one! There’s still time… :)

@ Nick - Man… check *you* out! Your blog only has 10 posts - it’s that new - and you’ve already pissed someone off. *sigh* I seem to piss someone off every second Tuesday and that without even trying. The more I apologize, the worse the situation gets. I have to practice witty repartee.

I’m impressed. I feel like I should bow, or something.

;)

Thanks, James. I never aim to piss anyone off either! (It’s just a lovely side-effect of having lots of interested readers already.)

I’m really happy that PTO is striking up a conversation already, and want to thank everyone who’s contributed so far. I normally welcome alternate points of view, but if you are going to flame me, do make sure your criticisms are well-founded. I’m a big softie really, but I’ll bite back if wrongly accused.

Besides, I wish I drove an Audi TT too. :)

I want a Pontiac Solstice. Could I have a fancy, meaningless title if I have a Solstice?

@James – That’s a pretty car. Sure - I’m certain they could arrange a “Vacuous Living” package that comes with a choice of phony titles you could adopt, some photos of your fake supermodel girlfriend, a gym membership you’ll never use, and an expensive tie with your coat of arms on.

I’m actually quite surprised that no car manufacturer’s already thought to offer it!

I was seriously considering moving to California from the UK just so I could buy one of Tesla’s new cars. Then I could put, “Nick Cernis, Environmentalist” on my card. That’s really living the dream, that is.

Oh swweeeet. Hm, nothing by halves for you, eh?

I think anyone that leads graphic design projects for their clients especially brand development work or campaign work has the right to call themselves AD’s. It’s not about money, nor is it about respect. It just is, if you do the work you earned the title. Now that being said I have no problem calling myself that or calling myself a designer just the same most of what you have up here is fine by me although it differs from country to country.

:D :D :D

and let there be light..

I completely disagree - I feel that the creative professional needs to set themselves apart from the pack - and show that they are creative. In fact, I think it’s a BIG mistake to use the term “freelance” to describe oneself. When addressing audiences of design professionals and/or students I always tell them:

“‘Freelance’ is a nasty little word. It seems to imply an individual doesn’t have a ‘real’ job, can’t get a job, isn’t truly professional in their field, and is willing to work for ‘free.’”

@ Jeff - If you are truly walking around saying that, then thank you. Thank you so much. You just made my earning a living that much harder by perpetuating false assumptions and prejudices.

Congratulations. A winning solution.

As a designer with nearly 30 years of independent experience, the word “freelance” has been a negative in many situations. In telling people I “work independently,” “have my own design firm,” “run my own company,” etc. I am taken much more seriously as a business person and welcomed by the larger corporate clients that seemed to shun me previously.

30 years ago, that may have been true. Today? No. It’s time to put some respect into freelancing and award those who are able to maintain and run a full business on their own. I work independently, have my own writing business, run my own affairs, and am taking seriously because I do a good job and have a strong reputation for quality.

And I am a freelancer - and proud of it. Just because freelance starts with an F doesn’t mean it’s a four-letter word.

Yea but the word freelancer does not imply the work you do just that you do work. Its awkward, its best described to other professionals and creative directors and not companies.

@ Joseph - Personally, I use freelance writer. On its own, freelancer is vague.

This discussion is timely — my next post is about the use of the dreaded “F” word. Stay tuned…

Not guilty!!! I put stars!!! Looking forward to it, Nick.

@J Fisher,
Wether you use ‘freelance’ or ‘independent’ I don’t think matters too much. If you don’t like the word ‘freelance’ then use something else, or drop it all-together. But I don’t think it’s a good idea to make a one-man band sound like some big agency.
I think the way you separate yourself from the crowd doesn’t come from your title, but from how you present yourself, deal with clients, and ultimately the quality of your work. But I do think being overly vague could lose you work if your title misleads or just simply doesn’t explain anything about what you do.
I think as with many things, the issue of what title you use comes down to what you feel comfortable using with your clients, and what you think will most effectively communicate what you do to new clients.

@Nick
Thanks for the interesting post, it was enough to make me have a re-think about how to describe work. The debate is also raging on the freelanceswitch forum.

I can’t call myself a graphic designer? Cripes, what have I been doing for the last 20 years then? Sorry Nick, I have to disagree. Bad enough James doesn’t take the title “artist” seriously, now this? ‘Tis a sad, sad day indeed.

By the way, anyone want fries with that?

@ Harry - You, my friend, are a web designer. Not a graphic designer. Much better.

@James: Dammit, Jim, I’m a miracle worker, not a web designer!

How’s that for a title?

@Ben - Glad you found it handy. Cheers for hooking me up to the FS forum - I’ve been over and had a look at the discussion there too.

@James - Don’t get people started on Web Designers vs Graphic Designers! It’ll run another 400 comments before we even get our breath back…

@Harrison - You win! :) There just isn’t a rule that works for everyone, eh! We could always fall back on the old adage, “you are what you eat”, in which case my card would currently read, “Nick Cernis, Low Fat Strawberry and Vanilla Yoghurt”.

As for ‘Miracle Worker’ – what a title, eh!

For those that missed it, my follow-up post on the F word is now up.

@Nick: Well, “Harrison McLeod, Miracle Worker” is much better than “Harrison McLeod, Grape Juice and English Muffin”.

What’s your take on the “Interaction Designer” title?

@ Tom, Web design, UI design is my take on interaction design.

@Joseph Maguire: Interaction Designers are not always just UI or web designers; (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interaction_design). Based on your reply, I might be inclined to consider a different title since widespread understanding of the Interaction Designer title is not well known.

Well what is your specialty? What do you want people to think you do based upon your title?

@Tom: I think there will always be a need for new titles as roles change and evolve. I see nothing wrong with the host of new titles popping up like “Interaction Designer” or “Digital Designer”. If that’s what you do — use it! Thanks for your comment.

@Joseph: “What do you want people to think you do based upon your title”. You’ve hit the nail on the head there — that’s what it all comes down to. If you can communicate your job title effectively in 3 words or less, you’re probably on to a winner!

Check out http://www.brainsonfire.com for some very unique titles. (Go to the People, then Individuals links)

Hey great blog!

I do ads for a regional magazine in the USA, my job title is Art Director - Advertising.

Although I do not actually direct other people’s work, the distinction between Art Director & Graphic Designer, as I understand it, is that an Art Director decides what the ad should look like (comes up with the concept & possibly the general idea of the look) and the graphic designer literally makes it. I do both those things, so I requested the AD title. I think it sounds better and it makes it clear that I make the decisions, I’m not just creating someone else’s vision.

What do y’all think?

I was searching for information about \’Interior Commercial Design\’, and this your page (\’: If You’re Using These Job Titles, Stop Now! | Put Things Off\’) was in search results. Not sure why it appeared, but your site is still interesting to read :)

Now that’s what I call good SEO!

@Jessica: Thanks for the link — it’s the first time I’ve ever seen a bunch of made-up titles and thought, “Wow! Some of these are great!” Unfortunately I also thought, “Eh! What on Earth does that mean?” at many of them, which just goes to show that being creative with your job title is a tricky game to play. You’ve certainly opened my mind, though — thanks.

@SouthernBelle: It’s a tough one! I can understand why you’d want to be dubbed Art Director to portray your creativity, but don’t forget that Graphic Designers are often asked to come up with concepts too. (It’s the poor Artworkers that have to do exactly what they’re told). Both titles should leave your creativity fully in tact — use whatever suits you. :)

@Interiors: Search engines can be remarkable beasts! I suspect you’re a robot, but if not — sorry! I’m glad you enjoyed the read — thanks for dropping in.

@James: Yay! What do I win, what do I win? Do I win PR sweeties? I’m tired of staring my PageRank bar into filling up.

@Nick: heehee, I thought the same thing about that site - some sound cool, and others you’re just “Okay, but what do you *do*?”

I’m gonna stick with Art Director, it looks better on the CV.

; )

What a cool blog, I found it by accident but am glad I did

I thought about this for a while but I do not see how I could choose one job title that would really explain what I do on the job. The official job title is Senior Security Analyst but I also develop departmental web applications, server as technical lead on several projects, and project manager on others. How about “Jack of All Trades”? ( Which means I am master of none ).
My previous title was Senior Advisor which no one outside my employer understood. I like Technial Lead although that still sounds vague.

OMG THANK YOU. I was going through a bunch of Twitter profiles yesterday and today, and the terms people use to describe themselves are absolutely RIDICULOUS. One was an “Art Advocate Executive” (I forgot the middle world but he was an Art Executive of something), a whole bunch of people were “evangelists” (which just made me think BEHOLD THE HEALING POWER OF VISTAAAAAAA), and then you have all the advocates and activists and creatives who don’t actually live up to their names. I’m half-tempted to set up a Twitter account or miniblog to just categorise all the silly job titles, though I suspect that would get me more enemies than I need.

That said: I’ve been struggling with this issue. Describing myself takes me a while. I feel like I am more than my job title, that trying to pin me down to what I do is missing out on who I am. I HATE using job titles as a way to promote yourself on social networks. For career things, sure, but if you want to be known as a person - be known for more than your job.

I am (and was) any of the following:

Webmistress (this was given to me in 2001 when I made a fan website for a TV channel. The crew called me that and it stuck till now.)
Creative Industries student (well, it is what my degree is in, but then I have to launch into a long explanation of what the Creative Industries are)
Volunteer (that’s what I do more than study, lol)
Conference hopper (my hobby!)
Alternative education & youth advocate/activist (is what I do besides being a student, but it sounds pretentious!)
Creative person (haha. I like all sorts of creativity. Can’t really pin me down.)
Creative generalist (name of a blog I follow, fits me pretty well)

any suggestions?

@Khurt - Your industry is particularly tricky and riddled in its own set of mysteries. Looking at the qualifications, experience and the description on your website, “Senior Security Analyst” sounds about right to me if you’ve got people working under you. Otherwise I’d be tempted to drop the “Senior”. Tech jobs are usually complex by nature — no title will completely clarify or define what you do. Complex job titles are the reason you guys are hired in the first place!

@Tiara - Yep, a person is certainly more than their job title. It’s important to realise that the role of a title isn’t to tell people what a wonderful person you are or explain your varied hobbies and interests. It should simply communicate on a very basic level what you do for a living.

One way to approach it is to think about where your main sources of income are generated and base your title on that. Or you can do it on a time basis — what do you spend the majority of your working life doing (disregarding income)?

There’s no way you can express your raison d’etre in a simple job title — don’t try to. If people want to know more, they can check your about page or ask for your CV. Social networks are particularly tricky in this sense as you’ve only got a small space to sell yourself. I sometimes put a link to my website’s about page rather than listing a job title — try it out yourself!

My business card shows my name, with ‘creative design’ below it.

I’m a graphic designer, but don’t want to alienate myself from those potential clients who are looking for similar services. If I don’t feel confident enough to complete the creative project, I have contacts I refer people to.

One of the main aims of my card is to have people visit my website, where they can find out a lot more information about me, and what I do.

@David - Yes, I’ve seen a few people treat themselves as companies in this way. Instead of listing a job title, they list the services they offer. It’s a pretty effective strategy that avoids the whole kerfuffle of trying to pick a title!

Great post Nick, and great site, just found it through freelanceswitch.com.

I’m a web designer and developer, but since design is a lot sexier than development, I just stick with that. :)

Nick, what’s your opinion on the personal business name vs. creative business name for freelancers who work alone, ie Tommy Day or something made up like ___Design?

Thanks Tommy.

Yes, being a designer is considered sexier than being a developer. Of course, most people realise developers make more money! (The don’t always, but I’m happy to let people think that!)

Regarding business names vs. your own name, I recommend this: if you have a unique or interesting name, use it. Otherwise, find a word or name that you like the sound of and work under that. I still think “Build” is one of the neatest names for a graphic design company ever. (It’s a nightmare from a search engine optimisation angle, but who cares? Most of their clients already know them.)

Cool thanks for the advice, Nick!

In some sense I agree, one should indeed be clear with their job title, I do not believe that there is no place for creativity in said title, quite a few of my clients were won through my plain refusal to be fit molds like that. If every creative individual out there merely referred to themselves as a creative individual, I would not be very enthused about hiring one of them, as that only shows me that my options are only people who are too afraid to bend rules. Using creativity in coming up with a title for ones practice also provides the benefit of being able to profile a potential designer/illustrator/developer etc. by their ability to use that creativity in an effective and stylish manner. You can tell a bad designer from a good one quite easily simply but judging the effectiveness their work has on your own “i want that” mechanism.

So no “Master and Commander” then either I guess.

My title is “Marketing Coordinator” my actual job consists of little marketing and many many other things.

I think my new title should be “Girl who will do things you don’t want to do.”

wait…thats a little long-winded…any suggestions? Hah.

also, kudos to Nick for using the word kerfuffle. made my day that much better.

lol loved this post… currently I guess at my root core I’m a web designer

but I’ve been a:
graphic designer, flash designer, flash developer, interface designer, usability expert, Art director, Chief Visionary(my own made up crap title lol) and more recently Blogger/SEO/SEM/Online Marketer/Social Media Marketer/blah blah blah… oh ya and CEO of a 3 man company lol…

The trend appears to be that most people these days wear multiple hats. It’s so common, in fact, that most of the time it’s assumed that you are doing more than simply one aspect of web work under any given title. The important thing, and part of the point of the author’s post, is that you need to pick a title that demonstrates what you feel is the most important aspect of the work that you do. I wear TONS of hats, but my title reflects that, and to those who are familiar with the title in the industry knows what it communicates.

So if you’re doing what amounts to lots of web design work, but with little emphasis on web-based software development, then you are a Web Designer. You do design work for the web.

very well said, this article says everything no more no less :)

Ok from now I will be the Senior Creative Freelance Director. I was laughing so much after reading the article and yes some job titles can be more annoying than the owner.
I have yet to decide what to call myself