So I was under the impression you could not/should not do this, but then someone encouraged me to change my titles on my resume. it was actually a former manager of mine who suggested it and when i asked her to explain she just said all that matters is dates for employment and degrees. Can managers or HR explain further?
To give context, we were talking about a particular role of mine at a startup where the title didn’t reflect the work at all.
I just put a related descriptor next to jobs like this, where the first part is the job title and next to it is what it should've been, ie: Web Programmer | Front End Developer
Tell the truth.
If the "new" title is an industry accurate description of what you did and the "level" at which you did it, who cares what your company actually called you. (Except maybe if you work at a company where the titles are known externally and carry a specific meaning at that company)
Job titles are not necessarily official, but you want to keep it close. For example if my official title was Product Developer and I said Software Engineer to be clearer, that's great. If your title was Customer Support Representative and you said Software Engineer, not fine. Also of note, some companies will reveal dates of employment and official job title as part of a reference check. As a general rule it's OK to tweak job titles to increase clarity on your job function. It's not OK to change job titles to make the job sound like something other than it was. Good interviewers will sniff out BS and blacklist you if you're dishonest.
This is the kind of answer I was looking for, and yes, the title in question was something like “account manager” changed to “operations” and every duty I had reflected operations. Thanks.
Right — some startups will call their employees “ninjas” or whatever for some damn reason and they are definitely not ninjas in the real Japanese sense. Clarity in title would help here.
If background references don’t check out, you’re screwed.
And if they do?
You should use industry accurate descriptions. Don't use sandwhich artist, use line cook is normally the easiest example.
Don't lie. Former manager is an asshole.
Can you explain further? Former manager is a VP and I trust them.
Are they really a VP, or is that what they just told you?