Resume Question: What is your title if….

[Mandy]

if….you’ve worked within the capacity of a PM for at least a good year now but have never been given the title of PM and don’t get paid like a PM.  What would you put as your title at that company?  Would you just call yourself a designer and list your scope of work (which would basically be everything a PM does) under that and call it a day?

[Rob Halpern]

There are many ways to arrange a resume. Listing by firm/title is one. Another is to list (and expand on) roles/functions/skills. Prepare a resume that does the best job of presenting your skills

[Mandy]

Thanks for the pointers.  How much do these titles count anyways?  My title, if anything, would be landscape designer, but as a designer I have managed projects.  My office doesn’t really give out titles, at least not for me, so if a hiring manager looks at my resume and see landscape designer instead of PM or associate or whatever, would he/she be less impressed even though I have done work that a PM would do?

[Yekaterina Yushmanova]

You could probably add a description of your duties under the title and point out that you did project management as a part of being a landscape designer. If (should I says “when”?))) you get to the interview you surely will be asked to speak about your role in the firm and you’ll be able to get to the details.

[mark foster]

Job title is what your boss calls you (and pays for)–not what you do or call yourself.  While there are a lot of ways to legitimately “slant” a resume,  I would be very careful with titles.

Your former employer makes a distinction between the two positions, because landscape designer is paid less than a project manager. If you list your title as PM and it is found out not to be true, it will perceived as a pretty big lie.  

I suggest you  turn it into a verb:  “managed projects”, “acted as project manager” etc.   You should write a resume as if your old boss and your new boss will be talking with each other before you are hired (because they probably will).

 

 

[Mandy]

Ah yes, of course, cause everyone knows everyone…just love updating my resume, reaffirms the fact that I am indeed overworked and underpaid, but who isn’t???  On top of that I don’t even get a cool title, what’s up with that?(My rant for the day).  Thanks for the advice and Happy Holidays everyone!

[Author]

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