Job/Position Title Doesn't Match Industry Recognized Duties

Lets say you are a petroleum engineer. You do everything a petroleum engineer does in any other oil company.

Your company just decides they want to call you a "Natural Resource Transport Specialist". You are paid the wage of a petroleum engineer, get to attend all the petroleum engineer conferences, and everyone in your company knows you are the guy to contact about fracking or pipelines.

While the title of your positions is at least vaguely related to your job duties and professional background, when you go to industry conferences for pipeline and petroleum engineers, everyone believes by your title that you work in ground-based logistics.

To make matters worse, you are looking for a new job, and you are concerned whether it is ethical or professional to address yourself by your more industry recognized position as "petroleum or pipeline engineer." You are worried that you will be overlooked by potential opportunities because they don't see "petroleum engineer" when they skim your resume.

This is also your first job doing petroleum engineering since college, so no other job on your resume, although related to your current professional, would have the title petroleum engineer either.

Do you A) Complain to your company? B) Deal with it and hope hiring managers notice your more specific skills and experience? C) Give yourself a title more fitting to your industry recognized role, while italicizing your company title?

C.

I do it every time I update my resume, because the companies that I've worked for like to make up weird titles.

Why would you be obligated to put any particular title on your resume, just because that's what your employer called you?

In fact, why would you be obligated to use a title at all?

Your resume is a tool to communicate with a new employer. Communicate.

There is no rule that says a resume must have titles. Call it "responsibilities"- done.

Or put: Petroleum Engineer ("Natural Resource Transport Specialist")

I look at it like this. My official title is Program/Project Management Sr. Advisor. I'm a project manager plan and simple. My resume says that. My business card says that. My e-mail signature at work says that. My PMI certification says that.

There is such a thing as a street title and a HR title. We just went through a whole exercise at work to consolidate and recognize that.

Instead of putting Petroleum Engineer on your resume I'd put Petroleum Jelly Engineer....That way they'll know you're a very smooth operator.

Haha, cool. Just wanted to make sure that was kosher in the HR world.

I'm a Computer Graphics Operator. What do you think I do for a living?

I manage spatial data and analysis. I just get to choose fun colors and shapes to show my data, and apparently that lumps me in with graphic artists and professional video gamers.

I also do option "C". It's a pretty rare case where your title matches your duties. Either that or I've been working at startups too long.

It's extremely common for company HR titles to be totally arcane. Tell me what an 'electronic business specialist III' is, because I still don't know. It's not what I put in my email signature, on my business cards or in my LinkedIn profile, that's for sure.

I was once a petroleum byproduct and distillate dispensing technician for Shell.

I worked at a Shell station in a NJTP rest area.

Don't over think it, go with option C.

This to me is a Natural Resource Transport Specialist.

If they think enough of your resume and ability to send you to conferences on their dime, GO.

Network, meet people from other companies, glad hand, swim in the pool, hand out business cards, visit the buffet. More networking. Someone else may like your style, experience, resume and title better than your current employer.

^Those chrome tanks almost look like they have Predator-style cloaking

Job Title and Job Responsibilities are two very different things. Most employers know that by now, but be sure to spell them out.

SVreX wrote: In fact, why would you be obligated to use a title at all?

I learned almost a decade ago.....engineers love to use their titles for apparently zero reason.

nderwater wrote: It's extremely common for company HR titles to be totally arcane. Tell me what an 'electronic business specialist III' is, because I still don't know. It's not what I put in my email signature, on my business cards or in my LinkedIn profile, that's for sure.

This is what I've been wondering about. The internal use of the title is also a bit annoying because we've got Computer Graphics Operators who don't use the same programs as me, and another guy just does CAD, where as I do not. I don't want a higher up seeing me the same way they do that guy, because our skills are different, but I'm hesitant to call myself something I am not in the eyes of the company.

My company has job titles that are relatively meaningless. For instance, my job title was "Specialty Suchandsuch Rep". Suchandsuch would lead people to believe that I was involved with something that I had no relation to. But it was one of the few titles my department could give, and that particular one allowed me to have enough authority to actually make the decisions I needed to. I signed my email and put it on my resume as "Blahblah Specialist". Blahblah and Suchandsuch have no relation until you get about 2 levels deep.

For my current job, my title is "Business Analyst". Depending on the job I'm applying to, this might go down on the resume as "Vendor Analyst", or "Portfolio Analyst", or "Remarketing Analyst", or "Bank Analyst", or... All are extremely accurate descriptions of what I do. I suppose that it helps that my company will only tell other companies the time that I worked there. I don't even think they're allowed to provide job title.

yamaha wrote:

SVreX wrote: In fact, why would you be obligated to use a title at all?

I learned almost a decade ago.....engineers love to use their titles for apparently zero reason.

This is true. They often insist on a level designator, also, like "Jr / Sr" or "I / II / III".

Which is funny, because they never hesitate to call an unlicensed designer an "Engineer" even though they are not PEs. I'm not sure how they get away with it. If I tried calling myself an "Architect" before I passed the RA exams, I'd get a nastygram and a several-thousand-dollar fine in no time flat.

In reply to Duke:

Yea....its effin weird.

In a strange coincidence, that's how my first year Mechanical Engineering class realized we were all berkeleyed......the professor was an HVAC engineer that didn't know E36 M3 about ME.

Duke wrote:

yamaha wrote:

SVreX wrote: In fact, why would you be obligated to use a title at all?

I learned almost a decade ago.....engineers love to use their titles for apparently zero reason.

This is true. They often insist on a level designator, also, like "Jr / Sr" or "I / II / III". Which is funny, because they never hesitate to call an unlicensed designer an "Engineer" even though they are *not* PEs. I'm not sure how they get away with it. If I tried calling myself an "Architect" before I passed the RA exams, I'd get a nastygram and a several-thousand-dollar fine in no time flat.

I guess it depends on what you do and who you work for. We are an engineering firm and you have to have a PE to call yourself an engineer. But our guys may have to to seal or stamp plans. If you work for a large industrial plant, you can call yourself whatever you want, except a P.E. I know plenty of "plant or industrial engineers" that are not a PE and may not even have an engineering degree. One of our guys was an EIT on his way to becoming a PE and signed a letter as "Project Engineer". He got the nasty cease and desist letter.

I also know a retired guy that used to sign everything XXXXX, P.E., even his bloody emails to the car club.

PHeller wrote: I'm a Computer Graphics Operator. What do you think I do for a living? I manage spatial data and analysis. I just get to choose fun colors and shapes to show my data, and apparently that lumps me in with graphic artists and professional video gamers.

Umm, I thought you were a petroleum engineer?

In reply to 2002maniac:

He must have multiple personalities.....which might explain most of the threads he posts.

Heres one for you...

Employment contract read "Technical Specialist II"

Company gave me 1st pack of business cards that read "Safety Specialist"

Company then gave me 2nd pack of business cards that read "Safety Engineer" (and cubicle tag says same)

My degree is in Mat/Sci - Engineering, work content is engineering.

What do I put down on my resume as I am trying to get the next job?

(been saying Safety Engineer)

Apexcarver wrote: (been saying Safety Engineer)

That sounds like the modern title for the guy who makes sure the fire extinguishers are charged.