How Important Is A Job Title Change?

Question: Is A Change In Title Important?

Dear Rusty,

I am currently the director of IT for a small ($40M) company that is part of a large ($2B) global corporation. I report to the SVP of Finance and Operations and I have been in the position for about eight years, having started with the company as MIS manager about 11 years ago.

Corporate has decided to merge our company with several others and relocate them together.

I have been asked to move to the new location and be the senior IT person at the new location. I have received a copy of the job description and it reads pretty much like my current set of duties.However, the title for the new position is IT manager.

Would it be harmful to my career/resume to accept this title? Is there some way to approach this without seeming like an ego-maniac? Thanks,

Mike

Answer: Job Title Change Not A Huge Deal
Dear Mike,

Titles are known to be misleading and ambiguous at best especially in the technology field.

Job titles are all about the duties and skills you are responsible for and the progression of responsibility in your new role. As for your resume, your title change can be explained away during an interview. You may have a difficult time asking for a title change especially in a large company where they like to keep position titles uniform for their organization chart.

If you do ask for a title change approach human resources and explain to them first your duties and responsibilities then as for the title change and see how things go. Regards,

Rusty

Oreste "Rusty" D'Aversa has over 20 years experience in the technology industry. In his current role as owner of Metropolitan Executive Search and Outplacement Services (MESOS) he is an Executive Recruiter, Outplacement/Career Consultant, Job Search Coach, former Human Resources and Hiring Manager and author of The Resume Writing Kit and SELL More Technology NOW! His e-mail address is [email protected].