Do you change your job titles on your resume?

15 Comments

1. ANDREA RAGGAMBIJanuary 27,2025 at 1:12PM UTC

   I would not change your job title. Just assess how your accomplishments in past roles can be most aligned to show your potential in the one they are looking for. So tweak your purpose statement and the way you have worded what you have done so they demonstrate proficiency.

2. Amy Miller, Psy.D. - Career CoachJanuary 27,2025 at 1:41PM UTC

   You can change the title only if you can do it consistently (linkedin, resume, etc) and that if asked, your current employer would agree to the other title. So there are situations where this is possible but it is most likely not going to work out. Just make sure you are putting the right words "content marketing" anywhere you can, such as resume summary, description of your work, list of skills.

3. AnonymousJanuary 27,2025 at 3:05PM UTC

   I agree with Amy. When companies do a job verification, they will verify the dates you worked there and your title at the end of your tenure. If you want to make the position scannable, include verbiage like "consistent with a content marketing manager role" in the bullet points, and include duties and accomplishments that show those skills.

4. Barb HansenJanuary 27,2025 at 6:24PM UTC

   As others have suggested, I wouldn't change my title on my resume, but I have added a sub-header or add an "acting as...." to individual jobs where my actual role may have dipped into different job titles or my official job title wasn't industry standard.

   Example: My official job title may have been "Senior Development Manager" but my actual role was "Lead Product Manager", so I craft my resume to say:

   Senior Development Manager (acting as Lead Product Manager), Company ABC, Date to Date

   I would not stretch the truth but if my official job title didn't speak to the role that I did, I do add in some explainer text.

5. Melissa McHughJanuary 28,2025 at 1:06PM UTC

   That's actually a really great tip. I may have to try that out

6. AnonymousJanuary 28,2025 at 2:56PM UTC

   That's a great idea!

7. Melissa McHughJanuary 28,2025 at 1:03PM UTC

   If I knew it was wrong, I wouldn't have asked.

8. Melissa McHughJanuary 28,2025 at 1:05PM UTC

   Thanks for the feedback. There are actually quite a few "experts" who suggest changing titles on your resume to make it more scannable and I was curious to know how it's perceived by people who actually read the resumes, versus someone trying to sell something.

9. AnonymousJanuary 28,2025 at 1:21PM UTC

   Yes, absolutely! You can include the appropriate key words in the first bullets in your responsibilities

10. AnonymousJanuary 28,2025 at 1:57PM UTC

    I met with a career counselor who suggested something similar, esp if your title is something like: HR Manager III. In my current role, I had a job title with 'Editor' in it, but b/c there are other Editor titles here, my title was changed to something more specific--but only has meaning within my company. I asked if we could keep the title we were hired with for our resumes/LinkedIn, etc. and the big boss said that was fine. Even if the boss hadn't said that, I would have kept the old title. Good luck!

11. AnonymousJanuary 28,2025 at 2:55PM UTC

    That's pretty rude!

12. AnonymousJanuary 28,2025 at 5:50PM UTC

    Respectfully disagree. Just as with any description, a title can be interchanged for industry standards.

    E.g., Sr. Secretary, Executive Assistant, Administrative Coordinator are all used for basically the same position in my 35 yrs experience.
    To the original poster, you can use what suits the job you're applying for. You can even use two, e.g., Sr. Secretary/ Exec Assistant if it works. It is not lying nor wrong.

13. AnonymousJanuary 28,2025 at 8:16PM UTC

    You can get through the skim and auto resume review by listing the attributes, skills and experience relevant to the roles you are applying for in my experience your job title is less important outside of reviewing it for level and seeing continuous growth. Remember a title at one org can be super different than another, having the experience is what counts.

14. AnonymousJanuary 30,2025 at 5:35PM UTC

    Yes, definite red flag. Keep your job title, change the content to include the wording from the job for which you are applying and send a cover note that explains the depth of experience in that realm.

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