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    Why Job Titles Matter, and Don't.

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved IT Careers
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    • scottalanmillerS
      scottalanmiller @jmoore
      last edited by

      @jmoore said in Why Job Titles Matter, and Don't.:

      I never understood why some have the engineer title. I guess times have changed but that used to mean one very specific thing and it had nothing to do with computers.

      And that one specific thing is what? I bet you can't get people to agree - there was never just a single kind of engineer.

      As someone with a traditional engineering background, I can tell you that it was never just one thing or very clear.

      And while it predated computers (by millennia), it also predated arches, screws, and other basics that almost every traditional engineer uses today. Engineers work with and on what exists at the time, so even engineering in the classical sense would mean computers too if applied today. The term hasn't changed, the tools of the trade have.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • scottalanmillerS
        scottalanmiller
        last edited by

        0_1541431704525_Screenshot from 2018-11-05 09-28-11.png

        a person who is trained in or follows as a profession a branch of engineering is the bit that applies to what we are discussing.

        Software and systems are two branches of engineering. Along with things like civil, chemical, ceramic, mechanical, electrical, computer, manufacturing, manufacturing systems, industrial, petroleum, and so forth.

        ObsolesceO 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • ObsolesceO
          Obsolesce @scottalanmiller
          last edited by

          @scottalanmiller said in Why Job Titles Matter, and Don't.:

          0_1541431704525_Screenshot from 2018-11-05 09-28-11.png

          a person who is trained in or follows as a profession a branch of engineering is the bit that applies to what we are discussing.

          Software and systems are two branches of engineering. Along with things like civil, chemical, ceramic, mechanical, electrical, computer, manufacturing, manufacturing systems, industrial, petroleum, and so forth.

          We're all engineers while we drive a car, technically, according to #4.

          scottalanmillerS 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • scottalanmillerS
            scottalanmiller @Obsolesce
            last edited by

            @Obsolesce said in Why Job Titles Matter, and Don't.:

            We're all engineers while we drive a car, technically, according to #4.

            That's correct. But not the same kind of engineer 🙂

            That's engineer like we say "train engineer".

            In Spanish it is "conductor". Which we also use for trains. But can be applied to cars or BigWheels or whatever.

            JaredBuschJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • JaredBuschJ
              JaredBusch @scottalanmiller
              last edited by

              @scottalanmiller said in Why Job Titles Matter, and Don't.:

              BigWheels or whatever.

              0_1541441598420_0b9d1ddd-00e2-4c3a-b7f9-098b5220f0a5-image.png

              ObsolesceO 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
              • ObsolesceO
                Obsolesce @JaredBusch
                last edited by Obsolesce

                @JaredBusch said in Why Job Titles Matter, and Don't.:

                @scottalanmiller said in Why Job Titles Matter, and Don't.:

                BigWheels or whatever.

                0_1541441598420_0b9d1ddd-00e2-4c3a-b7f9-098b5220f0a5-image.png

                Child engineer.
                Junior Engineer.

                scottalanmillerS 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                • scottalanmillerS
                  scottalanmiller @Obsolesce
                  last edited by

                  @Obsolesce said in Why Job Titles Matter, and Don't.:

                  @JaredBusch said in Why Job Titles Matter, and Don't.:

                  @scottalanmiller said in Why Job Titles Matter, and Don't.:

                  BigWheels or whatever.

                  0_1541441598420_0b9d1ddd-00e2-4c3a-b7f9-098b5220f0a5-image.png

                  Child engineer.

                  Be PC dude, they are called Juniors.

                  ObsolesceO 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                  • ObsolesceO
                    Obsolesce @scottalanmiller
                    last edited by

                    @scottalanmiller said in Why Job Titles Matter, and Don't.:

                    @Obsolesce said in Why Job Titles Matter, and Don't.:

                    @JaredBusch said in Why Job Titles Matter, and Don't.:

                    @scottalanmiller said in Why Job Titles Matter, and Don't.:

                    BigWheels or whatever.

                    0_1541441598420_0b9d1ddd-00e2-4c3a-b7f9-098b5220f0a5-image.png

                    Child engineer.

                    Be PC dude, they are called Juniors.

                    Fixed.

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • scottalanmillerS
                      scottalanmiller
                      last edited by

                      And for the interns...

                      Toy_baby_car_smart_bug_668R.jpg

                      ObsolesceO 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                      • ObsolesceO
                        Obsolesce @scottalanmiller
                        last edited by

                        @scottalanmiller said in Why Job Titles Matter, and Don't.:

                        And for the interns...

                        Toy_baby_car_smart_bug_668R.jpg

                        Wow, fancy...

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • dave247D
                          dave247
                          last edited by dave247

                          I'm actually dealing with this right now. I was asked by my boss to come up with a better job title for myself since I am basically a system administrator, network administrator, server administrator, IT manager, among other things.

                          I think job titles are a good thing simply as a starting point descriptor of what a person's job role is. It shouldn't determine pay as much as all the line items that are listed in your actual job description. Of course, there are issues with a job title if you are someone with a ton of roles -- things that would be multiple roles at a bigger company, for example.

                          That said, I've landed on IT Administrator since it seems to encompass everything and sounds better than "IT Generalist".

                          DashrenderD scottalanmillerS 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • DashrenderD
                            Dashrender @dave247
                            last edited by

                            @dave247 said in Why Job Titles Matter, and Don't.:

                            I'm actually dealing with this right now. I was asked by my boss to come up with a better job title for myself since I am basically a system administrator, network administrator, server administrator, IT manager, among other things.

                            I think job titles are a good thing simply as a starting point descriptor of what a person's job role is. It shouldn't determine pay as much as all the line items that are listed in your actual job description.

                            That said, I've landed on IT Administrator since it seems to encompass everything and sounds better than "IT Generalist".

                            Are you actually a manager? as in you have direct reports that you manage?

                            dave247D 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • scottalanmillerS
                              scottalanmiller @dave247
                              last edited by

                              @dave247 said in Why Job Titles Matter, and Don't.:

                              That said, I've landed on IT Administrator since it seems to encompass everything and sounds better than "IT Generalist".

                              That's pretty good. It's generic but gets the point across. Generalist is linguistically better because, for example, you likely do some engineering somewhere, not exclusively administration (engineers build, administrators operate.) But it's so general that people get it.

                              dave247D 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                              • dave247D
                                dave247 @Dashrender
                                last edited by

                                @Dashrender said in Why Job Titles Matter, and Don't.:

                                @dave247 said in Why Job Titles Matter, and Don't.:

                                I'm actually dealing with this right now. I was asked by my boss to come up with a better job title for myself since I am basically a system administrator, network administrator, server administrator, IT manager, among other things.

                                I think job titles are a good thing simply as a starting point descriptor of what a person's job role is. It shouldn't determine pay as much as all the line items that are listed in your actual job description.

                                That said, I've landed on IT Administrator since it seems to encompass everything and sounds better than "IT Generalist".

                                Are you actually a manager? as in you have direct reports that you manage?

                                What kind of reports are you referring to? I manage various things in IT, like some reports, vendors, some credit card statements & things..

                                scottalanmillerS 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • scottalanmillerS
                                  scottalanmiller @dave247
                                  last edited by

                                  @dave247 said in Why Job Titles Matter, and Don't.:

                                  @Dashrender said in Why Job Titles Matter, and Don't.:

                                  @dave247 said in Why Job Titles Matter, and Don't.:

                                  I'm actually dealing with this right now. I was asked by my boss to come up with a better job title for myself since I am basically a system administrator, network administrator, server administrator, IT manager, among other things.

                                  I think job titles are a good thing simply as a starting point descriptor of what a person's job role is. It shouldn't determine pay as much as all the line items that are listed in your actual job description.

                                  That said, I've landed on IT Administrator since it seems to encompass everything and sounds better than "IT Generalist".

                                  Are you actually a manager? as in you have direct reports that you manage?

                                  What kind of reports are you referring to? I manage various things in IT, like some reports, vendors, some credit card statements & things..

                                  Direct report = employee that reports directly to you that you can hire and fire.

                                  dave247D 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                  • dave247D
                                    dave247 @scottalanmiller
                                    last edited by

                                    @scottalanmiller said in Why Job Titles Matter, and Don't.:

                                    @dave247 said in Why Job Titles Matter, and Don't.:

                                    That said, I've landed on IT Administrator since it seems to encompass everything and sounds better than "IT Generalist".

                                    That's pretty good. It's generic but gets the point across. Generalist is linguistically better because, for example, you likely do some engineering somewhere, not exclusively administration (engineers build, administrators operate.) But it's so general that people get it.

                                    Or maybe I should go with "Lord of IT" instead.

                                    scottalanmillerS 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • scottalanmillerS
                                      scottalanmiller @dave247
                                      last edited by

                                      @dave247 said in Why Job Titles Matter, and Don't.:

                                      @scottalanmiller said in Why Job Titles Matter, and Don't.:

                                      @dave247 said in Why Job Titles Matter, and Don't.:

                                      That said, I've landed on IT Administrator since it seems to encompass everything and sounds better than "IT Generalist".

                                      That's pretty good. It's generic but gets the point across. Generalist is linguistically better because, for example, you likely do some engineering somewhere, not exclusively administration (engineers build, administrators operate.) But it's so general that people get it.

                                      Or maybe I should go with "Lord of IT" instead.

                                      As silly as those kinds of titles are, they are almost better than ones that people see as being more official 🙂

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                      • dave247D
                                        dave247 @scottalanmiller
                                        last edited by

                                        @scottalanmiller said in Why Job Titles Matter, and Don't.:

                                        @dave247 said in Why Job Titles Matter, and Don't.:

                                        @Dashrender said in Why Job Titles Matter, and Don't.:

                                        @dave247 said in Why Job Titles Matter, and Don't.:

                                        I'm actually dealing with this right now. I was asked by my boss to come up with a better job title for myself since I am basically a system administrator, network administrator, server administrator, IT manager, among other things.

                                        I think job titles are a good thing simply as a starting point descriptor of what a person's job role is. It shouldn't determine pay as much as all the line items that are listed in your actual job description.

                                        That said, I've landed on IT Administrator since it seems to encompass everything and sounds better than "IT Generalist".

                                        Are you actually a manager? as in you have direct reports that you manage?

                                        What kind of reports are you referring to? I manage various things in IT, like some reports, vendors, some credit card statements & things..

                                        Direct report = employee that reports directly to you that you can hire and fire.

                                        oh no, I can not fire anyone. However, I have indirectly caused people to get fired, but that's another story..

                                        DashrenderD 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • DashrenderD
                                          Dashrender @dave247
                                          last edited by

                                          @dave247 said in Why Job Titles Matter, and Don't.:

                                          @scottalanmiller said in Why Job Titles Matter, and Don't.:

                                          @dave247 said in Why Job Titles Matter, and Don't.:

                                          @Dashrender said in Why Job Titles Matter, and Don't.:

                                          @dave247 said in Why Job Titles Matter, and Don't.:

                                          I'm actually dealing with this right now. I was asked by my boss to come up with a better job title for myself since I am basically a system administrator, network administrator, server administrator, IT manager, among other things.

                                          I think job titles are a good thing simply as a starting point descriptor of what a person's job role is. It shouldn't determine pay as much as all the line items that are listed in your actual job description.

                                          That said, I've landed on IT Administrator since it seems to encompass everything and sounds better than "IT Generalist".

                                          Are you actually a manager? as in you have direct reports that you manage?

                                          What kind of reports are you referring to? I manage various things in IT, like some reports, vendors, some credit card statements & things..

                                          Direct report = employee that reports directly to you that you can hire and fire.

                                          oh no, I can not fire anyone. However, I have indirectly caused people to get fired, but that's another story..

                                          OK - then like me, you're not an IT manager, because neither of us manages people for IT. At least that's my POV.

                                          I choose IT Admin as my title as well - also didn't like the sound of IT Generalist - most people say - WTF is a generalist?

                                          ObsolesceO scottalanmillerS 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                          • ObsolesceO
                                            Obsolesce @Dashrender
                                            last edited by

                                            @Dashrender said in Why Job Titles Matter, and Don't.:

                                            @dave247 said in Why Job Titles Matter, and Don't.:

                                            @scottalanmiller said in Why Job Titles Matter, and Don't.:

                                            @dave247 said in Why Job Titles Matter, and Don't.:

                                            @Dashrender said in Why Job Titles Matter, and Don't.:

                                            @dave247 said in Why Job Titles Matter, and Don't.:

                                            I'm actually dealing with this right now. I was asked by my boss to come up with a better job title for myself since I am basically a system administrator, network administrator, server administrator, IT manager, among other things.

                                            I think job titles are a good thing simply as a starting point descriptor of what a person's job role is. It shouldn't determine pay as much as all the line items that are listed in your actual job description.

                                            That said, I've landed on IT Administrator since it seems to encompass everything and sounds better than "IT Generalist".

                                            Are you actually a manager? as in you have direct reports that you manage?

                                            What kind of reports are you referring to? I manage various things in IT, like some reports, vendors, some credit card statements & things..

                                            Direct report = employee that reports directly to you that you can hire and fire.

                                            oh no, I can not fire anyone. However, I have indirectly caused people to get fired, but that's another story..

                                            OK - then like me, you're not an IT manager, because neither of us manages people for IT. At least that's my POV.

                                            I choose IT Admin as my title as well - also didn't like the sound of IT Generalist - most people say - WTF is a generalist?

                                            IT Admineer

                                            scottalanmillerS dave247D 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
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