Are You a Victim of your Job Title?
Have you ever felt constrained because of your job title? Have you ever been forced to stand by helplessly, watching others struggle fruitlessly with the obvious, because "that's not your job?" Have you ever lost a job because the need for your job title no longer existed, even though you had considerable skills in other needed disciplines?
I've had these experiences, and I know others have too. It is frustrating, and on the face of it, quite absurd. And yet, there seems nothing to be done about it.
Is this an indication of a fundamental flaw in typical staffing procedures? Is the average job description intentionally designed to fit the 'lowest common denominator?' How does this play with the fact that the average length of a job today is a mere four years? With high turnover rates? With the "I can't get good help complaint?
Your comments please.
Clarification added 4 months ago:
Tom,
There is no question that those responsible for screening job applicants today totally lack the ability to extrapolate. "I see you've written about a four-legged stool. Well, we need someone who has experience writing about a three-legged stool." I will give them that, if you're trying to fill a position about which you have no first-hand knowledge whatsoever, you have little to go on but job titles. However, I would very much like to see Congress take a close look at this process before issuing one more H1B.
Good Answers (5)
In a slightly different vein, I am the victim of my previous "Director" level job titles because in my job search, I find companies not willing to consider my skill sets for something not titled "Director", even though the work is the same as I have done in the past. Many manager level jobs in large companies are as complex as the director level jobs in smaller companies. I just love the work, but companies get hung up on your previous title because they think you won't stay in a position that isn't at the level you were at before.
Tyler B
Reporting analyst
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Frank, I believe what Edward was saying is that employees are often prevented from taking on responsibilities outside of a strict interpretation of their job desc/title not by a lack of desire, initiative, or professional competence, but by the myopia of superiors or colleagues in other departments.
Susan S
Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., financial marketing writer.
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Helping people succeed is part of my job description, if not officially, then unofficially.
Marie-Dolores A
Assistant Comptroller at HCDC
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I'm with Susan on this one. :)
Lisa W
Graphic Designer
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Hi Eddie,
I don't know that I'm a victim per se, but the perception of my title itself has been downgraded immensely since the advent of the digital age.
"Graphic Designer" (what I am) is now confused with "Desktop Publisher" and/or "Production Artist." A Graphic Designer certainly has the skills of the latter two, but not necessarily vice-versa. I can't count how many people I've met who either profess to be or know someone who is a Graphic Designer, only to find out that this person lays out newsletters in Pagemaker using clip art, and knows nothing about typography, composition, color, psychographics or any of the other myriad components that are part of the job.
I've been approached by companies looking for a Graphic Designer who really wanted a Production Artist, and paid wages that normally require asking customers if they'd like fries with their order. I've also missed out on opportunities because I was over-qualified... the advertisement was for a Designer when apparently they meant entry-level production artist.
I've also noticed a trend in the past few years where people confuse "Art Director" with "Graphic Designer" ...This one is beyond me. I had a (very brief) position where my title was Art Director, but my duties (and the respect that I got there) had nothing to do with the responsibilities that someone bearing that title would normally have.
To answer your question, a misunderstanding of what a title actually means and the duties normally assigned to someone with that title would definitely have an effect on turnover rates and an employer not getting the help that they expected. I would think that if a company is hiring for a certain position, they should at least have a good understanding of which title to recruit for.
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FRANK F
—►CEO NorthStar —►Strategic Futurist ex-Banker = "A Future You Can Bank On!" —►Keynote Speaker
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If anyone feels "forced to stand by helplessly,
watching others struggle fruitlessly with the
obvious, because 'that's not your job'," then
there obviously are serious problems with
the organizational culture that need to be
addressed, and quickly.
Anyone who feels or says "that's not my job"
is either selfish, totally demotivated, totally
lacking in team spirit, badly administered, or
overly-fixated on rules and procedures. They
need to be taken aside and counseled, and
if they decline to change their attitude, they
should be fired. They will poison any company
atmosphere. If their manager is at fault, then
that person should be fired. If the CEO is at
fault for allowing such a bad culture to evolve,
then he should be removed by the Board.
Nobody should ever blame their job title or
position decription for being inflexible in what
they do or do not take responsibility for. That
is a lame excuse, in my opinion.
I don't think that job turnover has anything to
do with it, otherwise this issue would be found
across every company or organization.
It is a function of organization culture. If the
culture is positive and adaptable to change,
then job titles and position descriptions will
constantly evolve and be adjusted. And they
should all include items such as: "perform
with a team-centered attitude and always
seek ways to assist others, and/or to take
on any other duty as assigned."
