The Importance of Job Titles

I have written a number of times about the importance of providing a minimum amount of information in a resume. There are certain elements that need to be included for the document to be a resume. I read another resume recently that omitted a key piece of information. This is so important, I’m revisiting the topic. The critical elements of a resume include:

• Job Seeker’s Name and Contact Info

• Employer Names

• Job Titles

• Dates of Employment

• Education

If your resume is limited to just this information, it will be a weak resum, but if you don’t have all of these elements you don’t have a resume. For most job seekers, this is basic stuff. Despite this, I continue to receive resumes from job seekers that omit some of the critical information. The resume I read today is an example of this.

The job seeker held a series of sales management positions. The most recent position failed to include a job title. The job titles in order are:

• No title

• Branch Manager

• Sales Manager

• District Sales Manager

• Field Engineer

The position without a title provided a description that implied the job seeker had been in a sales management position. I can’t be certain the role was a sales manager. I can think of three reasons why the job seeker omitted the title. First, he didn’t know that including all the job titles is important. I think this highly unlikely for an individual with twenty years of management experience. Second, the job seeker was careless and just forgot it. This is possible but doesn’t make a good impression of his attention to detail. Third, the job seeker is trying to hide something about his current position. This is also possible and makes a very bad impression if true.

When you are writing your resume, make sure you check it closely and look at every criteria a hiring manager will assess. After that, get a second opinion. Show your resume to a professional that is experienced assessing resumes. This will help ensure you make the impression you intend.