Ask HN: Need help picking a title

1 points by aorshan 11 years ago | 1 comment

So I know that we generally believe that titles are meaningless, but my role at the startup I'm working at (~30 people) is expanding and I've been given a chance to submit some ideas for what my new title should be. About what I do: The best way to describe it is as a business generalist. I do mostly sales and sales ops, but also pitch in on projects across the business team -- marketing, ops, client services, etc. The new role will be an expansion of this, with more direct responsibilities and ownership of projects, as well as working directly under the CEO to help take stuff off of his plate.

I'm fairly junior at the company so I'm not a manager/vp and I'm definitely not a rockstar/ninja/etc.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

MalcolmDiggs 11 years ago |

I'd recommend crafting your title as a pointer towards wherever you want to go. In the next few years what's your ideal title? If you can "jr" or "deputy" that title, (or in some other way place yourself logically on track to that title) it might help in the long run.

It seems like you're trending towards eventually being a COO role, so something like "Deputy COO", or "Operations Manager" might be nice. If those feel too senior for you, keep stepping it down until it feels right. And of course if you're actually pursuing something other than COO long term then adjust accordingly.