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Can I change the job title in my CV?

The answer is a qualified ‘yes’. But proceed with caution. Of course it is important that the job title on your CV accurately reflects your work and status. But the job title also needs to be meaningful to employers and recruiters.

Make sure employers understand the job title

When it comes to writing CVs, the most important consideration is whether your job title will be easily understood by the reader. Recruiters often talk about ‘job title inflation’. This is where a job title might sound more grandiose than the reality. A BBC survey discovered some great ones.

• Director of First Impressions = Receptionist
• Environmental Maintenance Engineer = Waste Collector
• Back End Manager = Web developer

‘Back End’ is a common term in IT. So there may be more to this job title than just hot air (sorry).

But whilst these job titles may have a bit more puff about them, they also serve to empower the people doing them. For this reason they tend to be seen in difficult to fill or highly competitive roles such as IT or telecoms sales. Apple call some of their sales force ‘geniuses’. If you join the Carphone Warehouse technical support team you will become a ‘Geek’. And why not? It is great to see creativity in job titles. With CVs, however, you need to think foremost about what the reader will understand about that title.

My title doesn’t reflect the seniority of my role

We get told this quite often by customers. For instance, an HR Manager may be the most senior HR role in an organisation and have more responsibility – for more people – than an HR Director in another. This can be true for many types of jobs across the board. So, if you are the most senior HR person in your organisation and called ‘HR Manager’ but you feel your job is much bigger, can you change it in your CV?

Firstly, it is advisable not to get too hamstrung on job titles. Most employers when reading your CV will be able to see beyond the job title. They will pay more attention to the achievements you’ve made and scope of your job. It should be self evident what level you are working at – not the job title you have. Nevertheless, some may argue, labels count.

If you feel strongly then in this instance you could call yourself ‘Head of HR’. This would accurately reflect that you are the most senior person within the department. Giving yourself a ‘Director’ title may be a step too far. The company may consider itself too small to warrant having an HR Director. ‘Head of HR’ would seem to strike the right level without exaggerating the scope of the job.

Don’t tie yourself up in knots over job titles.

So there are times when you can change a job title in a CV. But think carefully before doing so. You know what you do. You know what you’ve achieved. So enter the job market with confidence. If you are a ‘Sales Genius’ then you can justifiably stick with that so long as the reader will understand it. Only change your current job title if it could lead to misinterpretation or really doesn’t do justice to your job.

Have you ever changed job titles on your CV, let us know what you think?

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