Comments on: Tech Comm Job to Job Title: Something Lost in Transit?

By: Ben

Ben — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 23:17:02 +0000

I’ll admit that I don’t lie awake at night trying to think of a cool or important-sounding job title. I agree that the title isn’t nearly as important as the work that’s actually getting done. But an accurate title helps when someone asks me what I do. I don’t really have a title that explains it all—I find myself having to clarify what else I do if I say I’m a technical writer.

I also think having accurate job titles can be good for attracting people to positions (the job title is the first thing someone sees in a job posting).

By: one man writes » Recently Read

one man writes » Recently Read — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 20:49:14 +0000

[...] Tech Comm Job to Job Title: Something Lost in Transit? Ben Minson is musing on job titles and, as well as raising a giggle, ends up stuck. Job titles, as a way to convey what you do for a living, are important. … the dictionary says one who documents is a “documentalist”—however, I’m reluctant to adopt a job title that includes the word “mental.” So this is where you get “documentation specialist.” The same goes for “usability specialist.” [...]

By: Gordon

Gordon — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 22:29:59 +0000

I’m about to become the “Technical Information Manager”, with a team that has technical writers in the Technical Communications team.

But, that said, I’d rather that people knew what we did, what we were responsible for because we were doing a good job rather than a particular job title.