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The job title you choose for your business can make or break it. It should be representative of what your company does and who you are as a person, but most importantly reflect the future goals that your company has in mind.
A person’s function and level within a corporation are described by their job titles. Posting job openings with incorrect job names may cause a backlog of meaningless applicants and interviews, slowing down the recruiting process. We’ll provide you with step-by-step guidance on how to choose the right job titles for your small company in this post.
Rankings of Job Titles & Definitions
We want to provide you with a foundation for thinking about job titles before we show you how to develop them for your own firm. Here are some popular job titles with distinct prefixes and how they connect to company structure, in order of authority from the top down:
1. Job Titles in Management
With 445,546 job postings on Indeed, management is the most popular career category. Middle management and executive positions such as Supervisor, Team Leader, and Executive Director are common in this group. Each management position has its own set of duties and abilities. Learn more about the various management job titles.
2. Job Titles in Retail
Retail is the second most popular employment category on Indeed, with 422,340 job openings. Front-line positions and first-line management positions are the most sought-after employment in this category. Retail sales associates, customer service associates, and grocery store employees all have overlapping roles and need comparable skill sets. As a result, when hiring employees, a small company owner operating a retail shop must be cautious to utilize the correct retail job names.
3. Job Titles in Food Service
With 378,119 job ads, this is the third most popular career category on Indeed. Job applicants hunt for entry-level positions such as bartender, chef, and dishwasher in this area. Despite the fact that food preparation duties are unrelated, it is essential to identify the assignment to prevent misunderstanding. If you own a small restaurant or food facility, your food prep job names should be based on your kitchen or floor designations.
4. Job Titles in Nursing
With 329,613 job postings on Indeed, nursing is the fourth most popular employment category. Home care and staff employment are the most in-demand in this category. Nursing is a distinct profession in that it requires certification, license, and graduate or postgraduate training. Coming up with acceptable nurse job titles is essential whether you run a small clinic or hospice. If you don’t, you can end up with individuals that are either underqualified or overqualified for the job.
5. Job Titles in Sales
Sales are the seventh most popular career category on Indeed, with 244,319 job postings. Job seekers in sales are mostly looking for customer-directed or executive jobs. Sales jobs, like retail jobs, have overlapping responsibilities and qualifications. Sales representatives, for example, have obligations and requirements that are identical to those of inside sales agents. As a result, when developing sales job titles, a small company owner should carefully consider the responsibilities of the role.
6. Job Titles in the Utility Sector
Utility is ranked sixth on Indeed, with 236,476 job openings. Service technician, installer, and field technician are examples of jobs in this category that undertake installation and maintenance activities. Because each occupation requires a certain level of professional training, qualification, and license, utility jobs vary greatly. As a result, if you manage a small utility or maintenance firm, you’ll need to figure out what abilities and experience are necessary before creating technician or utility job titles.
7. Job Titles in Customer Service
This category includes a number of occupations with similar activities and qualifications. A customer service representative may, for example, work in a contact center or as a customer support representative on the shop floor. To be able to fulfill tasks, the individual must gain necessary skills, such as computer expertise. To select the proper customer service job title, a small company owner must first define the specific abilities required for each position.
8. Job Titles in Administration
Administrative positions are the ninth most popular job category on Indeed, with 156,849 job posts. Entry-level administrative professions, such as administrative assistant, clerk, and receptionist, are in high demand. An entrepreneur who operates a small firm, on the other hand, must employ administrative job names that appropriately describe the vacancy’s tasks and obligations.
9. Job Titles for Drivers
Driving is the tenth most popular career category on Indeed, with 146,616 job postings. Driver occupations are divided into categories based on the kind of vehicle, route, license, and responsibilities. A truck driver, for example, drives a different vehicle and needs a different license than a delivery driver. If you own a small logistics or delivery business, you’ll need to come up with a driving job title that meets these requirements.
10. Development of Software
With 145,744 job ads on Indeed, software development is the ninth most popular employment category. Developer and engineer positions are sought by job searchers in this area. The area of software development is quite technical. To be successful in a development or engineering position, candidates must have the required educational background as well as a high degree of competency in a certain set of technologies. As a result, whether you own a tech firm or hire tech workers, you should be knowledgeable about the requirements for each role so that you can create appropriate software development job titles.
What Is The Best Way To Come Up With Job Titles?
It’s critical that your job title corresponds to your job description. In reality, if you have a firm knowledge of the position’s functions and responsibilities, you can frequently select a job title. Find out more about how to develop a job description here, and consider the following questions to help you come up with the perfect job title:
What is the employee’s department of employment?
The department they work in (for example, finance, sales, marketing, operations, and so on) should be included in the title.
Internally, what is the employee’s position?
What do you want to be called: chief, director, or associate? In other words, does the employee report to others, or is it the other way around? Or are there others in the organization who are above or below them (for example, a Senior Analyst against an Analyst)?
Is this the same as how the rank should be seen by others?
If yes, proceed; if not, consider what level of power you want them to have. Is the individual, for example, a decision-maker with the power to make choices with clients or customers? Is this person your trade show or conference representative? When the person meets prospective customers, you should offer them a title that exudes authority.
Is he or she in charge of a process, people, or both?
If you’re a process manager, you may want to put Lead in the title, and if you’re a people manager, you might want to include Manager.
Is the job title appropriate for the company’s culture and team?
If you pride yourself on having a laid-back attitude, but then start giving out Managing Director positions, the titles may not match the culture you’re attempting to establish. If you work for a small financial consulting business, however, official titles are the only way for customers to know who performs what. Consider the organization as a whole, and drawing out the corporate structure on a whiteboard could help you come up with job names that match your company culture.
How to Choose a Job Title (Example)
When posting a job, use internal job titles instead of titles
You don’t have to use the same job title internally as you do while recruiting. It’s OK to utilize a job title in your job advertising and job description that will attract more traffic and qualified applications as long as you’re not misrepresenting people.
If you want to use different job names for your job application and internally when you employ someone, simply make sure you tell your applicants what their real job title will be after they are hired!
Keep Track of Job Titles and Manage Them
Examine how your job title performs on your website and on other job sites to discover whether you’ve picked the proper one. After you’ve received some feedback, you may tweak the job title or description to see if the quantity and quality of candidates change.
An applicant tracking system (ATS) such as Freshteam provides a dashboard where you can see all of the facts about a position, including the title, description, and job-specific email templates that you may send to applicants who applied to comparable opportunities. You may also advertise your position on your own website, on several job boards, and on social media.
Job Titles & Company Structure – Examples
So, what does a comprehensive corporate structure with job titles look like? Let’s have a look at a few instances.
Retail Store (Example 1)
For the ABC Clothing Company:
- Owner, CEO, and/or Store Manager of a store (depending on who she is talking to)
- Store Manager (if there is a layer of management below the Store Owner)
- Assistant Store Managers (ASMs) or Shift Managers (Shift Managers) (people who are in charge when the Store Owner and Store Manager are gone)
- Retail Industry Associates (people who work the floor and cash register)
- Inventory Management Associates (people who work the back room and potentially overnight shifts)
- Marketing Manager (manages the marketing functions of the business, but probably not a team; depending on the business size, this might also fall on the Store Owner or on the Store Manager)
Boutique Management Consulting Firm (Example 2)
For XYZ Management Consultants, write the following:
- Principal Consultant and/or CEO (depending on who the owner is speaking to)
- Expert advisor (able to speak directly to clients without CEO, might manage a team)
- Associate Consultant, Senior (high-level team member who might manage parts of the consulting process, has some client interaction)
- Associate Consultant (worker bee consultant-crunching numbers, research, making presentations for Senior Associate Consultant & Consultant)
- Office Manager or Administrative Assistant (helps out around the office and may serve as assistant to the CEO or a Consultant)
- Business Development Manager or Client Manager (Performs sales/marketing tasks)
Real Estate Office (Example 3)
For M&D Real Estate Company:
- Real Estate Broker (a broker has passed a high-level exam and is senior to an agent; this could be the owner of the company)
- Real Estate Agent (agents have also passed an exam and act as an intermediary between buyers and sellers of property on behalf of a broker)
- Sales Assistant (general assistant to the real estate sales process, may help broker or agent)
- Closing Coordinator (assists with paperwork for a real estate closing and may also help the buyer and seller get along better) (when the agent or broker needs to be outselling)
- Office Manager or Administrative Assistant ( (helps out around the office and may serve as assistant to the broker or agents)
- Business Development Manager or Client Manager (Performs sales/marketing tasks)
Top 5 Guidelines for Choosing Job Titles
When issuing job names for the first time or revising titles throughout your business, use these recommended practices:
1. Let your team know if this is your first time working with job titles.
It is not a good idea to surprise someone, particularly when it comes to something that is important to them as well as their general professional path. Tell your staff that it’s time to make everyone’s titles and why you’re doing it (business development, hiring more people, maybe other reasons).
2. Keep things simple and don’t overthink them.
Companies like Apple and Google have come up with unique labels for their departments, such as the “People Department” for their HR department. There’s no need to go all out. For the great majority of small firms, standard titles like finance, operations, customer service, and human resources work just fine and make more sense to people.
3. Consider seniority and experience when making decisions.
Do you have a diverse group of employees with varying levels of expertise and ages? Within reason, you’ll need to consider this while creating job titles. There’s no need to please someone by giving them a “large” title they don’t merit, such as a “Managing Director” post to a 25-year-old. However, keep in mind that these titles will be seen as reflecting the company’s hierarchy, so keep that in mind.
4. Use an org chart to keep track of the titles.
Whether you have brief individual meetings or a team gathering, you must inform everyone about the titles you have chosen for them and everyone else. If you have a group of more than ten individuals, an organizational chart might aid in the transition to new job titles. An organization chart created using Pingboard is shown below.
You may use Pingboard to generate an org chart to view your present team and establish a recruiting strategy for available roles.
5. Be receptive to criticism within reason
Returning to point 3, you can experience some ego bruises or constructive criticism from team members or bosses. Listen to their suggestions or engage them in the process from the start, but keep in mind that it’s ultimately your company and structure. Make the best decision you can.
Final Thoughts
For a small firm, job titles are crucial, and it’s tempting to overthink them. By using Pingboard to create an org chart, you may obtain a better idea of the jobs (and titles) you need to fill. Using the Pingboard app, you can easily update your org chart using common HR platform connections, share it, and control who can see what information, export it for PowerPoint presentations, and build a searchable employee directory.
