What Happened to Job Titles?

I remember when I could call a company and speak to a sales person, fly on a plane and be assisted by a stewardess and ask a secretary to help mail out letters. Today...not so much. Sales people are account executives, stewardesses are flight attendants and secretaries are executive assistants.

Seriously?

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for adding some spice to your title to make you and the customer feel better, but when does it stop? At what point are all job titles too inflated? Will we reach the level where all people are vice presidents, presidents, and engineers? Have we become so sensitive and PC that it's offensive to be called a sales guy?

The point of the job title is to allow others to understand who you are and what you do. If people at all companies are using the same generic spiced up titles, has the new title been diminished? Value has not been improved because you changed a title and respect will not be increased because your title makes you sound important.

If we have to inflate our job titles to generate a boost in confidence from the employee and the customer, could that be a sign that we have a much larger problem? Perhaps instead of working on the job title, we can focus on the person, the service, or the product. If you want to create a new job title, make it original.

Curt Fletcher aka The Likeability Guy, is a Real Estate Professional, Business Development Strategist, Published Author of the book, "How To Sell More Homes and Increase Your Income," Sales Trainer, and REALTOR with Atrium Realty Group in North Texas.

You do WHAT for a living?

I wonder if people enjoy being boring or if they feel they have to be boring to fit their roll...

In any given week, I get a handful of business cards handed to me. The first thing I like to do is look at the picture to see if it looks even marginally like the person that actually handed it to me.

Typically it doesn't, but that is another topic for another day.

The next thing I do is read the "Job Title."

This is where I get the most interested. 99% of the people I meet have a horribly boring job title. When I read it, I immediately have an image in my head of what that persons normal work day must consist of....and truth be told, it makes me very sleepy.

There are lots of discussions out there about spiffing up job title names for various reasons. I'm not interested in creating a title that over inflates what someone does, but certainly there are ways to make you sound more interesting.

I love handing someone a business card and watching their face.

I have a few different cards I use, but one of the has the title of "The Likeability Guy" with a job title of Likeability Expert. The typical response I get is the person looks down, scans the card, then they look at me, then they look down again with a slightly perplexed look with a quasi half grin and they say..."What does a Likeability Expert do?"

BAM! There is my perfect opening. The ultimate ice breaker. The mood is immediately lighter and they are asking me about what I do. I didn't have to just blurt anything out that they weren't interested in.

My job title creates enough interest to where it extends or promotes a new and exciting conversation.

Job titles like the following are boring and illicit no responses or interest from someone else:

• Operations Manager


• Vice President


• CEO


• General Manger


• Team Leader


• Realtor

I could go on forever, but you get the point. Every start up company or small business titles themselves with the same names...it means nothing anymore.

Try something different. Be original. If you want new business or some random person to show interest in you, then you must be creative and exciting. Unless your company offers a true one of a kind can's miss product that everyone must have, you might want to diversify in other ways.

You WANT people to ask you about what you do. It is SO much easier that way.

Curt Fletcher aka The Likeability Guy, is a Real Estate Professional, Business Development Strategist, Published Author of the book, "How To Sell More Homes and Increase Your Income," Sales Trainer, and Professional Speaker that focuses on improving your Likeability to increase your Opportunities for Success!