WinGod

Vice President of Sales

Adjusting titles to fit desired roles

There are a few premises for this discussion:

In smaller organizations (less than 250 FTE), a number of details in senior IC roles and leadership roles can be wonky:
Titles: VP Sales? CRO? Head of Growth? Sr. Account Executive? Director of Sales? You could be doing the same things with the same title, depending on what's doled out in the job offer.
Responsibilities: Conversely, a VP of Sales does not an IC make...or sales leader. What you're actually doing on a day to day makes a difference.
Recruiters will look for candidates with typically aligned Titles + Responsibilities (assumption....so let's put that in the form of a question). Will they?

Ergo - discussion: What's the best practice of "adjusting" your Title to better align with the roles you're seeking.

Example: I'm a VP Sales who has had individual quota responsibility as well as team quota responsibility while building and growing said team. In that same role I've also handled other departments (customer success, business development, sales engineering, professional services, etc.). Q: If I'm looking for an IC role, is it justified to change my Title to Enterprise Account Executive / VP Sales or....too much English on the strike?

Would appreciate some opines.

Cheers,

WinGod

🗣 Interviewing

👀 job search

12

14 comments

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jefe

Arsonist

5

🍁

I feel like it can get dangerous adjusting it differently for different roles as your LI may not match resumes.

If you're just looking to change it once to fit the type of role you're looking for, and it's at a small company, then I get it.

WinGod

Contributor

3

Vice President of Sales

Makes sense, jefe. That's one nuance that makes the whole thing tricky. If we aligned with @antiASKHOLEand @TennisandSaleson their replies, I would summarize as:

1. Drop the VP down to a Director title. Makes more sense with Player/Coach roles managing ICs. @TennisandSales+ @antiASKHOLE

2. Adjust on LinkedIn and align with the resume once.

So....use the same resume for going after IC and other Director-esque positions?

jefe

Arsonist

3

🍁

I think that's a solid plan.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

2

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

This makes sense to me.

TennisandSales

Politicker

1

Head Of Sales

yeah id give that a try.

antiASKHOLE

Tycoon

3

Bravado's Resident Asshole

I'd say adjust and explain later. Although you have a "VP" title, what you explained really makes you seem like more of a director than a VP.

TennisandSales

Politicker

3

Head Of Sales

If you are looking for a IC role, I would keep VP out of your name.
For some reason I think that would hurt you.

LordOfWar

Tycoon

3

Blow it up

I am wholeheartedly against title inflation, but I also believe a title needs to carry weight with the level of responsibility.

For example, I think Business Development should be someone who is focusing on strategic partnerships, not a lead gen source.

Could I do my job if I was titled "sales rep"? Yes, but "Director" sounds like I can make decisions, sounds like I run my division, all which I do and can. I know my customers want to talk to someone who is at that level, so I need that title.

I run our whole sales team now, and as an SMB I could very well be titled VP of Sales/CRO and it would still make sense.

Really, I want the best title that fits my role and responsibility. This tells the world what I am expected to do so they can see my success in that role and imagine what I would be like in my next one.

I think there is nothing wrong with putting it out there that you've had your time managing and prefer the freedom and earnings potential of an IC role. The benefit is the hiring company will know you have management experience they can draw on if needed vs. the candidate with only IC experience.

Getting past the "square peg, round hole" recruiter is a whole other issue. Most are so lazy these days.

FlyingHellfish

Good Citizen

1

Director of Business Development

Just went through this myself. Paid for a resume pro to look at everything and asked the same question. Below is the result.

I have a Director Title now, but it is consistent with the industry I am in. However, if you match my day to day and responsibilities, I am the equivalent of a Enterprise AE in the SaaS world.

I was advised that as long as it wasn’t an over/under inflation of what I currently do then playing with your title in your resume is OK. You have to be the judge and eventually explain if/when you get the interview(s). For me, I dropped the Director title in my resume but left it on my LinkedIn.

This is just my experience and circumstance, hope it helps.

WinGod

Contributor

1

Vice President of Sales

Definitely seems to be congruent with the general sentiment: resumes need to get your foot in the door. It's the hook. How you set it still needs to be honest and above board. Makes sense. Thanks for sharing that outside perspective, too.

Arzola

Valued Contributor

0

Business administration

I really think it depends a lot on who's reading it.

BlueJays2591

Politicker

0

Federal Business Dev Director

I see no problem playing with titles as long as you're not massively overplaying it.

pirate

Big Shot

0

🦜☠️ Account Executive

I think just put whatever your contract says, and then clarify when interviewing what you did exactly? Otherwise some companies do strict background checks and might result in a headache

punishedlad

Tycoon

0

Business Development Team Lead

I've seen a lot of situations where new titles are basically just promotions without any real substance. i.e. "Director of Sales" being functionally the same as when they were just an AE.

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