Do you mind your job title?

After all, the job title is just some words on paper. For us, DevOps engineers, the job title often does not reflect the actual work we do.

But the job title matters when you are out in the job market. The job title in your resume will never be the sole reason for you to be hired. But it can be a reason for your name to be crossed-off from the list of potential candidates.

So, your resume should bear the correct job title.

Job title vs the professional title

Before getting the job title right, we need to know the difference between the job title and the professional title.

You earn a professional title for being skilled in a specialized field of work.

College degrees and certifications are two common sources for earning professional titles in DevOps. You could also earn a professional title by building a solid portfolio on the Internet.

Regardless of how you earned it, you can use your professional title in your resume even if you are not currently employed.

When applying for the first job, since you don't have a job title yet, your only option is to use your professional tile in the resume.

If you are already employed, you can use either your professional title or your current job title. But, the title you use must match the job you are applying for.

Where to write the job title or the professional title in resume

Right under your name in big bold letters at the top of the resume, you can write your job title or the professional title like this.

John Smith
Software Engineer

Then in the work experiences section, list your work experiences with the corresponding job titles creating sub sections for each title you held in the past. Use your job title in this part and not the professional title.

Why should I tweak the job title in my resume

In a perfect world, you can write your current job title as it is in the resume.

But, the world is far from being perfect.

It's OK to use your job title as it is in your resume if your job title:

• is recognized outside your organization
• represents the type of work you are doing
• aligns with the title of the job you are applying for

But your job title may not meet these needs. And there can be reasons for that.

Original job titles

Some organizations have created original job titles like "DevOps specialist", "Consultant DevOps engineer", "Associate Database Consultant", etc. These job titles may serve their purpose within the organization but make no sense to outsiders.

Tech specific titles

Job titles like "Senior AWS Platform Engineer", "AWS DevOps Engineer", "Senior Test Automation Engineer", etc., have a specific technology scope associated with the title.

These titles are good for identifying individuals with specific skills inside the organization. But when hunting for jobs with different technical scopes, potential recruiters may not shortlist you if you use these kind of titles in your resume.

Falling behind job titles

You have embraced the DevOps culture. But your organizational transformation has fallen behind. So, still your job title is "IT infrastructure engineer", "Linux system administrator", "Database administrator", etc. But you are doing actual DevOps work.

If your current job title is not a good fit for you due to any such reasons, do not hesitate to tweak your job title in the resume.

Is it OK to tweak my job title in resume?

Assume your job title is "Lead engineer - cloud infrastructure". You are actually doing DevOps with a lead role. In your resume, write your job title as "Lead DevOps engineer". It's perfectly OK.

Tweaking the job title may make you feel guilty. You can do away with that guilty feeling by sticking to these three guidelines.

Don't give yourself a promotion

If your current job title is "System administrator" and you are doing work of a "DevOps Engineer" but not in a lead role, don't title yourself as a "Lead DevOps Engineer. If you do, you'd be lying. And you may be red flagged.

Match your job title to your skills

Make sure that your skills match the job title you use. If you are specialized in DevOps security practices in your current role but your title is "DevOps engineer", it's OK to tweak your job tile in the resume as "DevOps engineer (Security and Compliance)".

Communicate your actual job title before your reference letters arrive

No matter how much you tweak your job title, your reference letters will bear your actual job title.

So, before the reference letters arrive communicate about it to your recruiter. Otherwise, you still run the risk of being red-flagged.

There are two ways you can communicate this.

• Include your actual job title along with your tweaked job title in the resume. If your job title is DevOps Specialist and your work scope is equivalent to a Senior DevOps Engineer, you can write your job title as Senior DevOps engineer (DevOps Specialist).

• When the new employer asks you to produce the reference letters, inform them that your reference letters will bear a different job title and explain the reason. The key here is to communicate the reality so your new employer is not surprised.

It's perfectly OK to tweak your job title as long as you are being honest about it.

But, do not try to tweak your professional title. If you gained a professional title through a formal path, it's best not to alter it and use the professional title as it is.

If you've been applying for new jobs without getting any responses, the problem could be with your job title. Tweak your job title in your next resume and see if things change for the better.

Thanks for reading.
- Indika