Does Your Job Title Matter?

A little over 3 years ago I started my role in leading a small fire protection group. It is a subset of up to 3 people within a multi-discipline engineering consulting firm.

The first week there I asked my boss about what my title should be.

He asked what I wanted it to be, largely indifferent to the outcome.

If it mattered to me, he said, I should think about it and choose what I feel is right.

A myriad of thoughts came to mind. A buddy of mine was just promoted to “Director of Fire Protection Services,” which I liked and sounded fancy. 

“Team Leader”? Sounded too self-appointed (and too Star-Trek-ian). 

Finding a Title
I asked my wife and it spawned a healthy discussion. 

A job title should relate to the actual work accomplished so that clients can relate. Sure, that part is easy.

Maybe a fancy job title could impact future roles. Maybe a fancy one would make mom proud.

After thinking about it for some time I kept asking - does the job title really even matter?

I came to this role from a 500+ person company with an assortment of titles and even levels within each title.

At the new small company – what did the title even matter? I’d be doing design, engineering review, business development, project management, and low-level management. The work wouldn’t change whichever title I chose.

Sorry, I Still Get Carded
It was around that time, just six years into the industry, that a recruiter approached me. It was for a Senior Fire Protection Engineer position. 

The recruiter said I paired up exactly with the role. He expressed disbelief when I wasn’t interested in the role, considering I was just an Engineer at that time. [side note: I’m somewhat convinced recruiters will say anything to set up a job interview.]

Why even have the term “Senior” in a job title if it is even possible for someone 6-years into the industry to have a crack at it? 

I am not saying I would have gotten the job – I surely would not have – but to even suggest a 29-year old could be a “Senior” Engineer completely degrades the meaning of the term Senior.

Perhaps in large organizations the job title is the measure of prestige and responsibility. Perhaps it carries more weight where there is little else to distinguish thousands of employees. 

But for the rest of the world? The small consultants & contractors? I can’t see it carrying much meaning, or at least nowhere near the importance of the role itself.

Your role in fire protection is so much bigger than your job title. 

Whether you're an intern, engineer, manager, designer, or leader of the multi-hundred-person firm - you play an important role in protecting people and structures from major loss. 

Your hands create the safety we want to see in the world. 

That is far more important than your title. 

Consider your role and your contribution to the world beyond the job title and I promise your work will be more rewarding.

So where did I end up with my new job title? 

I chose “International Director of Fire Protection and Life Safety Design & Consulting Services”.

…just kidding, I stuck with “Fire Protection Engineer”.

What About You?
Where do you stand on job titles? Am I on an island, or have you had similar thoughts yourself? 

I'm interested in your take - post your thoughts here.​

p.s. This blog covers weekly takeaways in my experience as a Fire Protection Engineer. Some are thoughts on career while others are real-world technical applications. If you’ve found this interesting, consider sending to a friend.