Avoid the "Job Title" job search trap!

By Malcolm G Boswell

Throughout my nearly 30 years of experience in the labor exchange industry, one of the most common mistakes by both job seekers and businesses is the insistence on looking for a job or a worker (talent) based on a job title search. Sure the job posted has a list of skills, experience, knowledge and abilities (desired traits) and a resume lists the workers skills abilities, knowledge and experience. And despite it all, most people do not search based on those key elements of the job, and focus primarily on job titles. But what is a job title? imagine it is a cup, and it can contain anything we want it to contain, both liquid or solid. Cup of tea, cup of flour, cup of water, etc. it is the content of the cup that defines the value we get form the cup, not the cup itself. Further more once can carry the same item in any vessel (a bowl, a glass, an empty tin can, etc.) the value is not in the container itself, but in the content. A better job search should be based on key words that reflect the added value items we are looking for, skills, abilities, success stories (experience), knowledge.

It is said that one of the biggest issues in todays labor market is an increasing skills gap. With technology constantly evolving and changing at even greater pace, this is clearly a real issue. but the reality is that the greater issue is that of a communication gap. Businesses do not normally express their current needs clearly, and job seekers do not usually express their talents in relation to the specific needs of a company in the best way possible. So they promote a fog that makes ships miss their harbor for days on end, even when it is just within reach. Job titles can be a pretty thick fog when the title does not match what we really are looking for. The rapid change in technologies, and business strategies have demanded an increase change in the skills needed in the workforce, and with technology eliminating tedious repetitive work, this frees up workers to take on additional tasks outside the traditional tasks of the job title they have held since they were hired.

Our labor markets are creating ever more complex jobs requiring multitasking, problem solving, integration of functions from downsized positions. Think of the role of a secretary 25 years ago and what a secretary does today. Think of manufacturing work, less dirty and physical (though still physical and somewhat loud), think of marketing and changes from traditional medias (print, TV, Radio) to online, interactive media. Even how we access education is changing with the ability to study remotely and do research on line. How is this change described in the job titles, and are job descriptions updated to reflect those changes? In many cases it is assumed, not implicit! Let me illustrate it with a true story of a situation I faced a few years back in assisting a business with finding qualified "production workers" (simplified for time sake)

• Employer: "I'm looking for a production worker!"
• Me: "What kind of production worker?"
• Employer: "You know a production worker, don't you know what a production worker is?"
• Me: "Yes, there are many types of production workers though, so which kind do you need?
• Employer: "What do you mean?"
• Me: "Well, let me ask you, what kind of products do you make? what kind of materials do you use? If metal do you need welders, punch press machine operators, general machinists? Lathe operators? Is it furniture if so do you need carpenters, machine tenders? saw operators? Veneer laminators? If you make food products do you need oven tenders? Food mixers? Meet cutters?"
• Employer: "Oh! I need a CNC machine operator, a punch press operator... "

Another issue with job titles is that it narrows our vision as to the types of work we can or cannot do. Many people get frustrated because they don't see a lot of jobs for the job title they had before, not knowing that other employers can call it something different but mean the same thing. They don't consider how their skills and training can be use din many other fields. For example, I recently had a student who recently graduated with a degree in economics and statistics, and was having a hard time finding a job as an "Economist". I reminded the student that while her focus of study was economics, many of the skills and abilities learned in that field (research and data analysis, managing data and identifying trends and deviations from the trends) are applicable to a broader spectrum of occupations (job titles) beyond economics. For instance, think of Research Analyst, Market Analyst, Big data Analysis, etc.

Skills that define an occupation, skills that define the occupation within a specific Industry

When you think of skills, abilities and knowledge (training, education and experience) you need to think on two levels. The skills, abilities and knowledge that define your occupation (Research Analyst) and those that are associated to a field or industry (Economics, Health Care, Manufacturing, Finance, etc.)?The skills, abilities and knowledge specific to your occupation or profession are the most transferrable of your skills, they represent you as an individual, and is the machinery that produces results. For example, a carpenter uses the same tools as a roofer, a door and window hanger, a sheetrock hanger, etc. In all of these you need to know how to measure cut, assemble using a variety of common tools. If you can cut wood with a saw, you can very likely cut tiles or cement with a tile or concrete saw. So even if you can't find a job as a carpenter, you can easily consider jobs in a related field that uses a lot of the same skills and abilities.

Another example is that of an accountant, every industry employs accountants; but not every accountant qualifies for every industry because each industry has different accounting procedures and software tailored to their industry... an accountant in the medical field needs to know medical terminology, insurance policies and service codes that show whether a medical service is covered or not by each policy to determine who pays the hospital what! But an accountant in manufacturing needs to worry about production costs, shipping and receiving, international taxation and transportation costs, export and import procedures, etc. And both industries operate with different accounting programs. An accountant is defined by the skills of an accountant in that they do accounts payable, accounts receivables, budgets, ledgers, bank reconciliations, etc. Then there are the skills that are specific to each industry that deal with insurance companies as in the medical field or with tariffs and bills of lading, and other production costs in manufacturing. Employers usually look for people who not only have the accounting skills, but have knowledge and experience in their industry and how they do accounting and the software systems they use. This is something that traditional job search engines don't always account for in matching people to jobs.

Job titles can be and are misleading in most situations, and even when looking at the skills abilities and knowledge on a job listing, one must still research the company that is hiring (if known) to assess if the description of position the company is hiring for matches the description of the work to be done. But even when the job seeker cannot find more information about a job than what skills, abilities and knowledge are required (and please read the segment on functions of the position and the work environment) this is always a better way to determine how relevant your qualifications are (and thus how much better or worse your chances are for getting the job) than just basing your application on the job title alone.

When searching for a job, do not search based on job title, but on key words that reflect the skills and abilities you possess, and see how many job titles require your skills that you would never have thought of. Do not limit your search for work based solely on a job title. Make sure you match yourself to jobs you have the skills and the experience for performing the key functions listed in the job announcement. This will eliminate many of the rejections you get because of misunderstanding about what the employer is looking for and what you have to offer. And make sure you make it easy and direct how your skills match what the employer needs.