3

I spent a few years doing systems administration tasks for a small company who's best idea of what to call me was an "IT Specialist". I had no official job title or contract, nor was I hired in response to a job ad titling the position.

I'm now job-hunting and was thinking of just putting "Systems Administrator / IT Specialist" on my resume, but to those of you who hire, would that seem unethical or dishonest to you?

Before posting this question, I did read the other questions on this that contained suggestions about putting down IT Specialist and then putting in parenthesis "Systems Administration tasks" on my resume, but I'd rather just do a double-title of "Systems Administrator / IT Specialist" unless those who hire see that on resumes and think it's a bad idea.

QuaeEstIsta
  • 39
  • 3
  • 3
    You quite emphasize that you're boss is "very sexist", yet, in the rest of your question you don't mention it - not once. How is your relation? Is he happy/content with the work you do, how you perform? Reading your question, this could just as well happen to a male employee (presuming you are female). – Edwin Lambregts Jun 19 '15 at 09:42
  • You say he "insisted on calling you on 'IT Specialist'", but was that your official title there? What did your contract say your title was? – Brandin Jun 19 '15 at 15:28
  • @Brandin: I didn't have a contract or an official title-hence, this question. – QuaeEstIsta Jun 19 '15 at 15:37
  • @ Edwin Lambregts: Do you understand how sexism works? @DavidK: I read that answer and others like it, before I posted....my question is different because the answer of using parenthesis doesn't seem like it'll work here because I've been introducing myself as a SysAdmin elsewhere. I also especially wanted to hear from those who do hiring what they thought of the double-title idea. – QuaeEstIsta Jun 19 '15 at 15:45
  • @QuaeEstIsta Then see this question, or this one. The fact that you have been introducing yourself by the wrong job title does not change the answer to the question of how to label an inaccurate job title. Use your actual job title and let the job description explain what you actually do. – David K Jun 19 '15 at 15:53
  • @DavidK: I did see those, but I still wanted to know about the double-title and get some input from people who hire, as I was under the assumption that they frequent this site. I'll edit my question to make it more clear. – QuaeEstIsta Jun 19 '15 at 15:58
  • @QuaeEstIsta Edwin's question is valid. While you stating that he is sexist can be taken at face value, him consistantly refering to you as some title less than you feel you deserve can't be attributed to sexism with the information provided. Were there men in the organization doing the same work with a SysAdmin job title? – Myles Jun 19 '15 at 16:00
  • @Myles-no, but I'd give ideas in meetings which my boss would shoot down, then the exact same idea would be given by a male colleague and my boss would think it was a great idea and we'd implement it. – QuaeEstIsta Jun 19 '15 at 16:08
  • @QuaeEstIsta Your official title is how HR will respond when you ask them what your title was. Maybe you could call HR and confirm that you actually worked there and ask what your title was. – Brandin Jun 19 '15 at 16:30

1 Answers1

21

We get a lot of questions about inaccurate job titles, and the answer is pretty much always the same.

  • You put the job title used by your employer on your résumé, so nobody can accuse you of padding or falsifying past employment
  • And you make damn sure the description of the role underneath the title describes your actual work

Frankly, most potential employers are interested in what you have been doing, not what you were called while you were doing it. It is well understood that different companies use a wide range of different titles for the same sort of position, and there is no meaning or logic behind it.

So send out your résumé saying "2012-2015 : FooCorp : IT Specialist" and then describing the wide range of Systems Administration work you performed skilfully and diligently.

Any potential employer looking for a SysAdmin is going to skip straight over the title and read about the nature of the systems you administered.

Carson63000
  • 7,497
  • 35
  • 50
  • And if you want to be more specific about what you are, you can put your own personal title underneath your name, so long as your resume also lists the actual job title used by your boss/company. That way, you sell yourself under the title you want, without lying about the title that your job gave you. – Zibbobz Jun 19 '15 at 17:45