how much do job titles mean to you?

[basschick]

i have worked for programs for different lengths of time. one i did work for for over a year, yet i never had a title. it didn't worry me, but it seemed to concern various people i know and have even done work for.

if you do marketing for clients, is it important that you be called a marketing rep? or if you work full time for one program, do you prefer to have a title - and if so, why?

[gaybucks_chip]

a lot of the places I've worked, the VP or president or whomever just said "Make one up" or whatever.

Personally, I generally don't use them much, the people that matter usually don't care what your title is, and the people that care what your title is usually don't matter.

The exception is if you're really young or young looking (not me in either case), then I think it can be important so that people will pay attention to you. Until people hear him speak, AJ is often mistaken for a model, and if not mistaken for a model, people often assume that I'm "the boss" or "have the say" even though he's actually the president of the company and we're equal partners. So titles in cases like that can be helpful.

My favorite story, though, was read in an old Tom Peters management book about WL Gore, makers of Gore-Tex. Sarah Clifton, an associate (staffer) at Gore's Arizona facility got hassled for having no job title. (Gore doesn't believe in job titles and hierarchy.) So she got cards made with the title "Supreme Commander". When the (chairman) of Gore found out, he was amused and delighted in retelling the story to others.

[basschick]

thanks - i love that story

you know who REALLY wanted me to have a title? outsourcing company employees. i supervised them for one client, and it really disturbed them that i was not "the manager" or "the supervisor". also in the phillipines, to show employers respect, they call them sir or ma'am, and i told the guys that i considered that they and i were both working on the same stuff together - i wasn't their boss.

they weren't convinced, and one guy explained that my feeling this way was why he thought i was the best boss he ever had, and he never stopped calling me ma'am or telling people i was "the manager" **