How Important Is Your Job Title To You?

Is your job title something that is particularly important to you?

Looking at it another way, is your job title something that is particularly important in your industry or profession and could it help to determine your future success in your career?

I remember an instance where one of my job candidates who I was helping to find a new job got a job offer from one of my clients and he was quite prepared to turn down the job based on the job title the company gave him.

Given the importance he placed on his job title and the importance he believed was in place in the industry he worked in, he would have rejected the job offer had he not been given a designation of "Manager."

Fortunately, the company was quite happy to give him the job title he was looking for and things worked out fine. He took the job.

Would you be willing to turn down a job based on the job title you were given?

In the case that I referred to above, my candidate worked in an industry where job titles tended to immediately tell you how far they'd managed to climb the corporate ladder and his concern was that since he was currently working as a Manager, accepting a position whose job title did not specifically refer to management level status might be perceived by others as taking a step backwards or moving laterally, something he wasn't prepared to do.

Basically he was concerned that if he accepted a less-than-desirable job title, a future employer might look at him less than favorably.

In some cases, job title might be something you can negotiate with a potential employer but in other cases, the job title might be set in stone, at least as far as the employer is concerned.

If you work in a field where job title is of particular importance, remember to carefully think about how your next employer might look at you should you accept the job you're currently considering and have a job title that might make them ask about your career choices.

At the same time, carefully consider how important the job title actually is and pay attention to what you'll actually be doing in the position.

Let's face it, in most cases your actual job responsibilities will be of paramount importance.