Define a career beyond your job title? Yes. But let’s be honest.

Really, really honest.

Does your current job title REALLY reflect the work you do?

If yes, then you can probably skip this post.

If not, then you should realize that human resource managers have a tough time with job titles simply because they usually aren’t as hands-on in your job as you undoubtedly are.

They don’t really know all the ins and outs, nor the nuances.  They simply do the very best they can to describe what it is that your position is supposed to do, and then run with it.

But oftentimes, your job ends up morphing and expanding beyond the original scope, and that affects how you perceive your career.

And that’s when you need to start thinking about how to define a career beyond a current job title.

Otherwise, you could be limiting yourself.

But remember that honesty part mentioned earlier?

It’s also really important that you are really honest and not overinflate your skills or abilities in your job title.

Because if you do, employers will find out.

However, if you are in a current role which has a severely understated title that truly does not articulate the full scope of your work, then there is a solution to help define a career beyond your job title.

It’s called the parentheses tool.

As in listing your job on a résumé or LinkedIn profile the following way (using parentheses of course):

Actual job title (equivalent to additional scope or level), MM/YYYY – MM/YYYY

You ALWAYS need to state your actual job title, but to carefully convey a higher level of job responsibility and/or scope, the use of the parentheses and “equivalent to” provides a “connecting dot” between the relevant work you’ve done / accomplishments made to what a potential hiring manager is searching for in a candidate.

By opening up your mind to how your transferrable skill sets can connect to other jobs, you are in a place where you can define your career beyond your job title.

The most important aspect of this, however, is making sure that your résumé or LinkedIn profile can provide specific examples that back up this assertion.

If you aren’t able to cite specific projects / outcomes, then anyone reading your information will just assume that you are reaching for the stars with a rudderless rocket.

But if you understand how to define a career beyond your current job title, the sky is the limit.