WASHINGTON — Some companies think they’re cool enough to hand out job titles that sound cool. But it’s getting out of hand, and it’s not just Silicon Valley companies anymore.
Job listing site Indeed.com says weird job titles are showing up from all over the country, and not just from tech companies.
“The ones we’re starting to see on our site kind of regularly now are ‘rock star,’ ‘genius,’ ‘guru.’ ‘Wizard’ and ‘ninja’ are the ones that float to the top,” Indeed.com’s Paul Wolfe told WTOP.
Wolfe says companies may think titles like that convey their cool work culture, but for job seekers, it is not helpful.
“If I posted a job called ‘HR rock star’ people wouldn’t necessarily search for that, and if they saw it in a job title, I think you may get some people to click on it because they’re curious about what it’s all about, but I think a lot of people will not click on that job or job description because it’s not something they’re used to,” Wolfe said.
Maryland ranks No. 3 in the nation for job postings on Indeed.com with “genius” in the job description, curiously, behind Delaware and Maine, not tech epicenters in Northern California.
According to Indeed.com, Google has a position called “Security Princess,” and Microsoft once listed a job description as “Galactic Viceroy of Research Excellence.”
Indeed.com’s advice? Use a recognizable job title. If you’re hiring a “Javascript developer,” just call it that.
