Is it OK to lie on my resume? just 1 word

baseball1988

Is it OK to lie on my resume?

I am a "Technical Support Representative" but is it OK to put "Technical Support Analyst"?

I am looking for a new job. I want to put Technical Support Analyst. I get more calls from companies if I put "Analyst". My role does involve a lot of analysis, looking at technical logs, troubleshoot easy to complex issues. Sometimes we need to spend 30 minutes to 1 hour with clients to troubleshoot, analyze situation, and implement patches/solutions. The reason why I am called "technical support representative" is because the company is giving us a crappy salary to reflect the title. But, in fact, we are doing more than fixing simple problems.

Put Representative or Analyst?

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Comments

N2IT

Why would you lie?

Representative all the way. That's your title! Besides that's a slippery slope you don't want to go down. I have considered it myself, believe me I am not holier than thou. From one man to another don't do it, it's not worth it.

I am a Transition Lead, but that doesn't make it right to put Project Manager down even though there are a lot of similiar elements to the positions. I could rationalize with myself that I am a PM, but once again it's a slippery slope and I am not willing to go down it.

Monthly and Weekly status reports
Risk impact summaries
Project Plan
SOW
SLA agreement
Etc

It would look a lot sexier to have PM than Transition Lead, but it is what it is.

If it bothers you that bad I would ask your boss or HR department to reclassify your title to analyst.

the_Grinch

As long as you properly display your experience/job duties, I don't think the job title will affect you as much. I do hate the job titles some companies come up with (mine is NOC/Helpdesk Technician, but some of the work I do is at a senior engineering level), but not a whole lot you can do about it. What I do is list under the duties the things I do and when I get calls explain that my role is very close to network/system administration. Don't change the job title and good luck!

Daniel333

Don't be afraid to clean up any terminology that your job had that doesn't make sense outside that environment.

For example, our Windows administrators were called Senior Network Engineerings. On the resume you would probably want to clarify you were not a Network admin, but a Systems admin if that is the verbiage the new place uses.

But I wouldn't lie unless your jobless and hungry.

apr911

Daniel333's position is rather unique and in that situation Id definitely question putting Senior Network Engineer on my resume when in reality I was a Windows Systems Administrator.

So if your job title doesnt at all match your job duties, I can understand changing it but be up front about it when you go to interview, come right out and say, hey this job title isnt the actual job title I had, the title I had was XYZ but ABC more closely matches the duties I performed.

Beyond that? No, I would not at all recommend changing the title Representative to Analyst.

Most companies when called to verify employment wont discuss much but they will verify dates of employment and title.

Picture the conversation like this:
Prospective Employer: "Did Baseball1988 work for you between x date and y date?"
Former Employer: "Yes"
Prospective Employer: "and Baseball1988's title was Technical Support Analyst?"
Former Employer: "No, thats not the title they held"

They will know you misrepresented yourself and Representative vs Analyst is giving yourself a promotion that you didnt actually get.

One thing you may consider doing is omitting Representative altogether and just calling it "Technical Support"

People do this often especially with leveling. As a Level 1 SysAd at company A, I may do all the work of a Level 3 SysAd at company B. No need to pigeon hole myself into a level 1 or 2 position at company B by saying I was a level 1 at company A, Ill just tell them I was a sysad at company A and then let them decide what level I would be. Or maybe I was a Level 3 SysAd at company A and I really want to work for company B but I am afraid they'll think Im "overqualified" or will want too much money, Ill omit my level again to get into the interview at which point they can determine my level and we can discuss my salary requirements (maybe Im willing to take less at company B than at company A because its where I really want to be or the benefits are better, etc. They wouldnt know that until its brought up which isnt usually until after the interview)

Its more likely to also get by the HR dept at your former employer. While they are likely to correct an incorrect job title especially if you are increasing your level, they are less likely to correct a job title which omits your level entirely.

Webmaster

baseball1988 wrote:

Is it OK to lie on my resume? just 1 word

The number of words aren't relevant, how much the meaning changes is. By itself I don't see a major problem with using a different job title on your resume than a previous employer used if it matches your tasks/experience better and/or is a more generally known title that means more or less the same and you actually have the experience to back it up. Some of the job titles I had said more about what my employer was willing to pay than the actual work I did and meant something different at most other companies. It should be obvious it's not "OK" to lie on a resume, but more importantly a bad idea that may backfire (as apr911 pointed out). "When in doubt, don't." applies here as well.

Good luck with the job hunt!

Zartanasaurus

I've never seen my job title used before. Sounds like something they got from some DOL report as a description of the duties instead of what it's actually called in the real world. If I told you what my job duties were, you'd say I was a Network Admin. So my resume says "Network Admin". If anyone thinks I'm lying because of that, so be it.

N2IT

Zartanasaurus wrote: »

I've never seen my job title used before. Sounds like something they got from some DOL report as a description of the duties instead of what it's actually called in the real world. If I told you what my job duties were, you'd say I was a Network Admin. So my resume says "Network Admin". If anyone thinks I'm lying because of that, so be it.

That maybe be true but what apr911 mentioned previously can happen. His scenario happens all the time, some employers don't care and will let is slide others won't. Lying about your job title does more harm than good.

Just curious what is your "real" job title?

Everyone

Webmaster wrote: »

The number of words aren't relevant, how much the meaning changes is. By itself I don't see a major problem with using a different job title on your resume than a previous employer used if it matches your tasks/experience better and/or is a more generally known title that means more or less the same and you actually have the experience to back it up. Some of the job titles I had said more about what my employer was willing to pay than the actual work I did and meant something different at most other companies. It should be obvious it's not "OK" to lie on a resume, but more importantly a bad idea that may backfire (as apr911 pointed out). "When in doubt, don't." applies here as well.

Good luck with the job hunt!

^^ This. My Official title while I was in the USAF was "Communications Computer Systems Operations Craftsman". Aside from being a mouthful, most people in the commercial world don't know what that is. So I translate that into a commercial title that people recognize based on the location I was at and role I was filling at the time.

IMHO "Analyst" is overused these days, everybody is a freaking Analyst. My current title is "Lead Analyst", but I wouldn't consider myself or what I do as an "Analyst". I provide Tier 3 support for Messaging systems, with some Engineering and Design responsibilities sprinkled in here and there.

Syntax

I don't know how many people here have worked for the Geek Squad before... But I found it was an absolute necessity to change the job title to something that reflected the position. Geek Squad has some funky job titles to align with their marketing image. For example, I was a PC technician in the store, but my official title was "Counter Intelligence Agent". Honestly even putting that I worked for Geek Squad in the first place I believe has hurt me from getting call backs. So, in my resume I put that I worked for Best Buy (the actual company I worked for, that's what it said on my pay checks), and that my job was PC Technician. When I did remote support for Geek Squad, my job title was "Covert Agent". Again, I put that I worked for Best Buy as a "Remote Support Technician".

I don't think I'm trying to deceive a potential employer, just trying to let them understand what my real job position entailed, without using the gimmicky job titles.

jibbajabba

Job titles are bollocks if you ask me ... If you work in a position where you have to be very flexible then a job titles cannot really say much about it .. In my job I am sometimes system administrator, exchange administrator, network administrator, project manager, system analyst, consultant etc... and that just covers my pre-lunch work

My contract simply says "Technical Engineer" - if I would use that on every CV I may send out then I would never get a response (gladly I don't have to as I am happy here mind)

I think as long as your company knows about it (the one you are currently with) then I don't see a problem in changing your title. Only thing to bear in mind is, the new companies might as for a reference and you don't want to end up in situations where there are mismatches ....

Brain_Power

Think about how much of a difference in the medical community one word in the title can make...

Webmaster

Everyone wrote: »

IMHO "Analyst" is overused these days, everybody is a freaking Analyst.

Sounds like Analyst is the new "Consultant".

jibbajabba

Brain_Power wrote: »

Think about how much of a difference in the medical community one word in the title can make...

Rubbish comparison ... in medicine you have clear separations between specialisations ...

If I work in IT and call myself Windows Administrator one day and System Administrator the other, is one thing. Calling myself one day Aroma Therapist and Brain Surgeon another day, is somewhat different don't you think ...

apr911

jibbajabba wrote: »

Rubbish comparison ... in medicine you have clear separations between specialisations ...

If I work in IT and call myself Windows Administrator one day and System Administrator the other, is one thing. Calling myself one day Aroma Therapist and Brain Surgeon another day, is somewhat different don't you think ...

You are omitting information not fundamentally changing it or giving yourself a promotion.

Just as a Windows Administrator is a System Administrator, is a Brain Surgeon not a Surgeon?

But a Windows Administrator is not a Linux Administrator just as a Brain Surgeon is not a Foot Surgeon (or an Aroma Therapist)

Syntax wrote: »

I don't know how many people here have worked for the Geek Squad before... But I found it was an absolute necessity to change the job title to something that reflected the position. Geek Squad has some funky job titles to align with their marketing image. For example, I was a PC technician in the store, but my official title was "Counter Intelligence Agent". Honestly even putting that I worked for Geek Squad in the first place I believe has hurt me from getting call backs. So, in my resume I put that I worked for Best Buy (the actual company I worked for, that's what it said on my pay checks), and that my job was PC Technician. When I did remote support for Geek Squad, my job title was "Covert Agent". Again, I put that I worked for Best Buy as a "Remote Support Technician".

I don't think I'm trying to deceive a potential employer, just trying to let them understand what my real job position entailed, without using the gimmicky job titles.

This falls squarely into the "Job title doesnt at all match my duties" category and I would absolutely change it so they have better understanding what I actually did while there but again, Id be up front about it and tell them its a different title from the actual title I had but it more closely aligned with my duties. Once again as long as you're not giving yourself a promotion or misrepresenting and elevating your responsibilities beyond those which you actually had, I dont see anything wrong with changing the job title to more closely match when its so convoluted.

Everyone wrote: »

This. My Official title while I was in the USAF was "Communications Computer Systems Operations Craftsman". Aside from being a mouthful, most people in the commercial world don't know what that is. So I translate that into a commercial title that people recognize based on the location I was at and role I was filling at the time.

This also fall into the above scenario where you are changing your title to clarify your position, not elevate it.

UnixGuy

I worked for a company where everybody was called "Support Engineer". Ranging from Network Admins, UNIX Admins, SAN Admins, Windows Admins, Application Support Analysts...almost everybody. So as everybody already said, I think it's ok as long as you're being honest about your job description, your duties, and projects you were involved in.

ehnde

This is frivolous semantics. Lying would be making false claims on your resume, and you are not trying to deceive anyone. You job title was probably assigned by some goon in HR. You'd be crossing the line if you said you were an Executive VP.

My new job title is has the word analyst in it only because what I do has no better labels that could be applied to it. If I were you, I'd be more focused on ensuring your resume is an accurate representation of your skills, the software you have used, and the certifications & education you have.