Job Titles - From basic to absurd
The Boring But Comfortable Job Theory is that jobs don’t need to follow passions or thrill you. They pay the bills, giving you the freedom to enjoy your life outside the office, which is the ultimate freedom.
In 1997, I began searching for communications jobs. Back then, my options were to use a recruiting firm or look in the newspaper. Online job sites didn’t exist. I used both options, and a recruiting firm secured me an interview for a Corporate Communications Specialist, an entry-level role within a global healthcare network company. I was part of a small team of three who ran communications out of the Executive Suite. I was tasked with focusing on internal communications. Several months into my new role, the CEO was ousted, allegedly for having an affair, and Corporate Communications merged with marketing to become Marketing and Communications. My two co-workers left, and I, the sole remaining corporate comms specialist, was funneled into a new private office (yay!) with a new title: Marketing and Communications Specialist. Our marketing team had a Vice President of Marketing and Communications, a Public Relations Manager, a secretary, and me.
Today, corporate communications is often two separate functions, depending on company size. And marketing, also dependent on company size, has so many titles and functions that I need a spreadsheet to track them. Titles may include Marketing Assistant, Brand Ambassador, Marketing Manager, Marketing Communications Director, Marketing AND Communications Director, Product Marketing Manager, Public Relations Manager, Communications Manager, Content Marketing Specialist, SEO Specialist, Email Specialist, Market Research Analyst, Social Media Coordinator, and Digital Media Manager. Last year on LinkedIn, I came across a title called “Head of Scrappy Mofo Marketing.” I’ve also seen Marketing Ninja, Marketing Guru, Brand Evangelist, Marketing Architect, Marketing Rockstar, and Chief Inspiration Officer. Ugh.
In 2025, Indeed listed 21 marketing job titles. The American Marketing Association, in 2017, listed 17 marketing job titles, and Ladders.com listed 10 job titles that didn’t exist 10 years ago, including social media manager, digital marketing specialist, and SEO specialist. I’ll add one: Google Ads specialist
In this Reddit thread from 2024, the poster asks, “What is My Job Title?”
“Hello! Our team recently got restructured, and I was tasked with figuring out what my new job title should be. Before, I was simply a graphic designer. Now, I’m the lead graphic designer for marketing campaigns, I assist with creating the marketing campaigns, AND I’m now the social media coordinator. How do I fit all three of those jobs into one job title (without making it painfully obvious how many hats I’m wearing?) I’ve read that specific job titles don’t super matter when it comes to marketing, but I’ll be working a lot with our customers when running their social media accounts, and I want something in my email signature that doesn’t make them go, “Why is a graphic designer running our Facebook page?”
With the plethora of functions and roles, and many being rolled up into one position, it’s no wonder we’re more confused than ever about what we do, who to get advice from, and how to advance our careers.
Today, a quick perusal of LinkedIn will show nearly everyone wears multiple hats and identifies as more than a single job title. Since when did a single job title become a bad thing? If you are a Chief Financial Officer (CFO), must you also be a strategist, author, and “Wizard of Light Bulb Moments (yes, that’s a real thing), all within your title line? Type in “ridiculous LinkedIn titles” in Google, and you will get pages of posts and articles about this topic.
LinkedIn has fed this narcissism and fear of being “less than”, by using algorithms to push recommendations for optimizing your profile, and created a subset of folks who specialize in optimizing your LinkedIn profile, for a fee, of course. Recruiters state that showing ex-[insert marquee company here] in your profile will boost the chances that you appear in their searches because they are looking for people who worked at a top 50 company such as Facebook (Meta) or Google (Alphabet).
An increasingly competitive job market touts that we must have a personal brand to stand out and be unique. But when everyone is “unique” and using a cacophony of meaningless titles, no one is unique. And we’re back to square one.
QUESTION: Are these ridiculous titles working? Are they bringing in the right people for your organization? Who is benefiting from such titles and do they influence the company culture?