Titles are a-changing

TITLES ARE A-CHANGING

What do you call yourself? There seems to be a title revolution going on at the moment, and no industry has been left untouched.

I have seen it especially prevalent in the creative industries – and the digital age is mixing up roles and titles so fast, I feel sorry for students about to start studying. By the time they finish, the job and title they had in mind will be called something else mid-way through and could quite well be a completely new role by the time they complete.

WHY?

Well why not. It’s great to have employees who have versatile skills. You have a more diverse employee mix of skills in the pot to choose from – however employers still need to ensure they have specialists who head up and lead each discipline. There is a huge difference between good work and bloody great work.

GIVE ME AN EXAMPLE

Well take a Mac op. Mac op’s in most agencies would spend the majority of their day on Photoshop, art working images and lay-out. But now there is more demand for Mac op’s to be able to do Flash (although it’s on its last legs as we know it in this form), and basic web development – enough to make banners and web ads. Which I think is fair enough, there is lesser print work than before and more digital demand, therefore it keeps them busy and grows their skill set to cater to market demand.

The lines are blurring between a Graphic Designer and a Web Designer – especially when we talk about front end design. However talk to any web designer and they will say that you get a much better result using a dedicated web designer for a web project. This is true if the project includes UI, UE, functionality and complex back end issues, as they are more specialised and knowledgeable in these areas, and have the expertise and experience to work with and have sites prepared for developers.

DOES IT MATTER WHAT YOU ARE CALLED?

Not really, unless you are precious about your title. It is just a string of words and some people get too hung up on it.

I totally understand people who are moving up the first 10 years in their career, a title means the world to them, and for quite a majority of workers in this range, the title is what they actually work for.

After time and experience, you realise that it is about the wider experience, the work you are actually doing and the satisfaction you are receiving from it.

WHAT SHOULD I CALL MYSELF?

What defines your skill set? How does your company present themselves to the public and to their clients? What type structure does your company have – these will all be taken into consideration when creating job titles. The more corporate the company, generally the more hierarchy, and the title will grow in length as you get to middle / senior management level.

Some companies have no more senior titles to give, so have 3 General Managers, 2 Managing Directors or 4 Managing Partners.

Don’t get worked up about it, keep it simple, relevant and meaningful to your role. It is about great work at the end of the day?

For a bit of fun, have a look at:-

http://www.bullshitjob.com/title/

http://cubefigures.com/job.html

http://aaronweyenberg.com/uxgenerator/

http://socialmediajobtitle.com/

The above information is not to be taken as legal advice. Copyright of this article belongs to The Creative Store.