If you’ve grown tired of your old job and you’re looking to make a change, you’ll likely go through various job postings via different platforms. When applying for a new job position, in some cases you’ll have to choose a specific title from a drop-down menu. With options like Director, Manager, Assistant, and Coordinator, you might be wondering—Why is my current job title not on the list?
It isn’t surprising if you can’t find your current job title in almost any job postings. Plenty of companies use unusual job titles to brand themselves as trendy and different. The big question is—Does having an uncommon title affect your chances of finding a new job?
Various experts have different options on the matter. In this article, we’re going to take a look at some of the perspectives and help you use them to your advantage.
Be Honest and Clarify What Your Job Is
When it comes to finding the right people for a company, recruiters search for specific keywords and job titles. If your title is unusual, chances are that you’ll never come up in the search results for businesses you’d like to work for. The problem is that you can’t lie about your job title, because your potential new employer will find out.
While experts advise that you be honest about your job title, they also suggest you add a more common one in brackets. If your title is Daylight Specialist, you can add what your job role is better known as in the industry, such as curtain designer or glass manufacturer.
Elaborate on Your Responsibilities
You need to establish the difference between what your job role and title are. While you may be named an Expert, Manager, Director, or Vice President, it doesn’t explain your role fully to a potential employer without context. You should present your job title as is and elaborate on what your responsibilities within the company are.
Who and what do you work with? Is your job to deal with clients or customers? Do you manage particular business processes or is your job to assist with them? Explain your role as best as you can, and you’ll have better chances of landing that new job.
Embrace the Title You Have and Use It to Your Advantage
If you’ve got a job title such as a Brand Warrior or Digital Prophet, some experts believe that you should embrace it and let its creativity be one of the aspects that catch the eye of a potential employer. Aside from adding common titles that are similar next to it so that companies can find you, write a unique cover letter that explains what your unusual job title means.
If you want to read more, check out some of our other articles about various job-related issues, such as: