The rising trend in alternative job titles

Job titles have long been used to help describe an individual's role within the workplace, not just to colleagues, but also to people external to the business. Job titles come with responsibility, and more often than not, other associated benefits such as higher pay.

Throughout the past decade though, job title conventions are being thrown out the window with many organisations leveraging creative job titles to try and make their company stand out to prospective employees within a saturated job market. What’s more, these less conventional job titles are also being used as a talking point within the business, to improve employee satisfaction and to give staff a true sense of identity within the company structure.

However, introducing non-conventional job titles to your business could also have drawbacks. There’s a risk that making unnecessary changes to the company structure could cause some employees to feel disgruntled, likewise though, others may feel a change in their job title could allow for more creativity to run through the workforce.

Creative job titles are seen by many as progressive and can be a great way to show off the forward-looking culture you want your people to adopt. This, in turn can attract fresh and creatively minded talent who are likely to be imaginative and come with new ideas which could prove useful to your business if that individual is a good fit for the company.

There’s a chance that your business could build a unique reputation by using alternative job titles like Apple, who are renowned for their ‘Geniuses’ – who are individuals who work in a customer facing tech support role in Apple stores. You should consider though, that whilst some may enjoy this novelty, others might find it confusing and that’s why using alternative job titles in a business should be considered on a case by case basis. Every business has a unique workforce and therefore this approach might not be for everyone.

There’s some great examples of alternative job titles out there, some of which have been created to be novel and a bit of fun, with others created to be straight to the point. Here’s a few of our favourites which have been selected from recent job vacancy listings on Indeed:

• Randomness manager
  A creative title for an administrative assistant, reflecting the often random workload for this particular role.
• First impressions director
  An alternative job title for a receptionist. Receptionists are often the first person customers come into contact with in a small business, so a good first impression is key.
• Brand evangelist
  This is a popular one and is often used to replace marketing manager. The use of the word evangelist relates to the brands mission and purpose with an almost religious connotation.
• People trainer
  An alternative job title used for a primary school teacher – children are people too!
• Penultimate master
  Also known as a deputy director, often the second highest position in the workforce and therefore is a role which carries a lot of responsibilities.

It’s important to note that despite these, and many other jobs having very novel titles, their roles and every day responsibilities are serious and as such, alternative job titles shouldn’t be used to trivialise the hard work that employees do day to day. Having said that, when used in the right way, non-conventional job titles could be a great way to inspire your existing team and to attract new members who resonate with your businesses culture and purpose.