August 7, 2014 at 8:05 pm
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Titles Matter
August 8, 2014 at 2:04 am
Working as a freelancer I thought titles would hardly matter but they still do. People like to think in generalised terms and when they glance at your CV/Resume, security badge, LDAP properties etc. they will make assumptions based on what they see. Often Job titles are the very first impressions even before you meet you.
Gaz
-- Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen...they're everywhere!!!
August 8, 2014 at 2:07 am
Oh and Andy's career advice regarding learning missing skills associated to the common skill set for a job title you are aiming for is great advice. I have never thought of it in that way on a conscious level but I think I may have done so on some unconscious level.
Gaz
-- Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen...they're everywhere!!!
August 8, 2014 at 2:27 am
What does "Technical Lead" say about me, I wonder...
Gail Shaw
Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverability
August 8, 2014 at 3:19 am
GilaMonster (8/8/2014)
What does "Technical Lead" say about me, I wonder...
For me this says that you are a technology expert who can guide your peers and advise management. Anything beyond that is detail and would require closer inspection or interaction e.g. those of us who know you here have learnt more about you as will those who read further details in your CV/Resume (albeit from a different point of view).
Of course, to us your posts have said quite a lot :Whistling:
Gaz
-- Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen...they're everywhere!!!
August 8, 2014 at 4:59 am
Technical Lead isn't a bad title, though I'd like it better if it were Database Technical Lead or SQL Technical Lead. Still, I think most reading the title will get/assume that you knew something!
August 8, 2014 at 5:01 am
I've only had one bad title - Delivery Lead. The client knew what it meant, I knew what the client wanted, but no one else on the team understood it. I had to keep explaining that "no, I don't do that" and answering "what is it you do again?". Fun questions for a consultant!
August 8, 2014 at 7:09 am
Andy Warren (8/8/2014)
I've only had one bad title - Delivery Lead. The client knew what it meant, I knew what the client wanted, but no one else on the team understood it. I had to keep explaining that "no, I don't do that" and answering "what is it you do again?". Fun questions for a consultant!
Let me guess- you were in charge of getting the donuts and pizza for the team?
Seriously though - bad titles really do tend to confuse a lot. We actually have functional titles (which might be the fancier/funkier/more local titles), and HR titles (the more standardized ones used to track down what to pay). Depending on how exotic my functional title has been (or whether it paints an inaccurate picture as to what I did) I will sometimes just revert back to the HR title on my resume.
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Your lack of planning does not constitute an emergency on my part...unless you're my manager...or a director and above...or a really loud-spoken end-user..All right - what was my emergency again?
August 8, 2014 at 7:16 am
Matt Miller (#4) (8/8/2014)
Andy Warren (8/8/2014)
I've only had one bad title - Delivery Lead. The client knew what it meant, I knew what the client wanted, but no one else on the team understood it. I had to keep explaining that "no, I don't do that" and answering "what is it you do again?". Fun questions for a consultant!Let me guess- you were in charge of getting the donuts and pizza for the team?
Most important job there is!!! Right? Well, except for buying the first round.
Gaz
-- Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen...they're everywhere!!!
August 8, 2014 at 7:20 am
One company that had a combustion engineering section had a 'Director of Combustion'.
Now that must be really cool on a resume.
...
-- FORTRAN manual for Xerox Computers --
August 8, 2014 at 7:26 am
Never forget the power or parenthesis. I was a Senior Database Adviser. Not everyone got what that was so on my resume I can list it as Senior Database Adviser (Senior DBA and Architect). It takes all the mystery out of it.
I had a friend who was having trouble getting work with 5 years as a "Quadbase Administrator" on his resume.We changed Quadbase to SQL RDBMS and the phone went crazy. You must be truthful on your resume but you can define yourself.
Best wishes
Barry O'Connell
22 year MS SQL Server guy
August 8, 2014 at 7:27 am
This is so true. People set their expectations of you based (in a large part) on your title. A mismatch between your actual job duties/responsibilities and your title can cause real difficulties in trying to accomplish your job.
August 8, 2014 at 7:30 am
Barry, I like the parens. That's a good idea.
August 8, 2014 at 7:31 am
Haha, and then there's the power of not knowing what title someone should get 😛
Where I'm at currently, management is very disconnected from the programming group, both in terms of knowledge and in terms of communication. On an e-mail I sent to our software vendor asking about a coding practice they use, I titled myself as the SQL DBA/Developer for the company. I figured, hey, why not? I manage the backups, the restores, the indexing, optimization, query construction, process improvement etc... Sure, it works! 😀
Unfortunately, management wasn't happy with my self-titling, and they said DBA/Database Developer wasn't appropriate for my position, because it sounded "too important". I questioned what I should be called, then, and they said they didn't know. A year and a half later, I'm on the company directory, off in my own section, by myself, with no indicator of what my department is.
I really don't care what the business calls me one way or another, but the situation remains amusing to me 🙂
- 😀
August 8, 2014 at 7:31 am
I would guess I've had more than 6 different job titles over the 20+ years. And it just changed again from Lead Programmer Analyst to Lead Application Developer. No change in duties or in pay. I've never been one to really care about my job title, just as long as I keep getting paid the "big bucks", Ha Ha.:-)
But I do see the benefit of an accurate title when you go looking for that next job.
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we travel not to escape life but for life not to escape us
Don't fear failure, fear regret.
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