To just give a generic job title when asked?

[PrueLeith]

Was at a child-related event recently with a friend. Another mum came over to chat to both of us, and the conversation turned to jobs.

I said I was a university lecturer. Friend said she was a senior HR advisor.

Other mum left and friend was like 'why didn't you say your actual job?'. I said I did, and she said 'you're not just a lecturer though, your job title is Head of Department'. I said I felt like lecturer was more descriptive of most of what I do, and most people wouldn't care about my actual title. And that I'd feel like a bit of a knob going 'oh, I'm head of department' as if I'm trying to impress people.

This made me wonder what others do. Do you just give a general/generic description, or would you be careful to say eg 'Higher Level Teaching Assistant' or consultant rather than doctor?

AIBU to just give the general title for what I do? Or is it a bit cringey to be really explicit about exactly what level you are?

I do the same as you. A lot of job titles now are overinflated and can make you look full of your own importance if you use them.

I’m a senior doctor and I just say doctor. Or sometimes ‘I work in the nhs’

Your friend's being weird. Most people give a vague description, surely. I'm in the Army, I'm a nurse, I work in IT...

I do the same. My job title is complicated and doesn't really mean anything in the real world SL I just give an approximation of my job that makes sense.

I’m a Head of Department/C-Suite Officer. I just say the name of the bank I work at.

I say I'm a tax inspector and watch them squirm

I’m the same. I’m an admin supervisor for a particular department in a hospital. Usually just say I’m admin for the nhs

Same as you - I’m a ‘Senior X’ but I just say ‘X’.

Just sounds knobby otherwise.

I say ‘customer service’ if I really don’t want someone to know that I’m a nurse (usually when I am receiving health care myself as I always hate it when patients go out of their way to tell me that they’re a nurse!)

Not technically a lie, nursing is probably one of the biggest customer service roles going

My title is a mouthful of five words - it contains a geographic remit, the function and a sub-function, then my role.

I usually say I’m a project manager; I’m not that exactly but it’s close enough.

You gave a perfectly reasonable answer. HoD isn’t very meaningful without context anyway. Head of what department where and what does that mean? It wouldn’t mean anything to people outside academia.

Did she really say SENIOR HR advisor? What a knob.

I'm an EA. I'd look a right knob if I said who I supported. EA to Exec VP, New Business Development. No one cares and I hate talking about work. It's rare that I'm interested in what anyone else does either. Unless it's something really niche, I don't care.

I go the other way. I'm an IFA (Independent Financial Adviser) administrator doing my last exam to become a paraplanner. I never really know what to say as I do more than the new admins, I'm also a home insurance adviser, nobody knows what a paraplanner is and I don't think I'll ever want to be a full-on Financial Adviser!

I used to be a Merchandiser and most people think I mean arranging merchandise when I was actually a buyer.

Civil servant - literally could be anything for any government department. Only if asked will I tell people explicitly what I do.

YANBU. My job title is Head of <particular type of finance that means nothing to most people> so I just say I am an accountant.

I do a vague description

I usually say I do something in corporate law in financial services. If I tell people I’m a Company Secretary in insurance they often think I do the filing or sell car insurance for an org like Direct Line.

I just say I'm in HR. Only offer more if they ask more.

In that scenario, I just give a few words/ sentence describing what I do. Because that's what they want to know.

I think your friend was being pedantic and weird.

I think the generic role is fine. Would only really go into detail if I ended up in a situation where we were discussing our actual jobs. My son goes to the nursery on the university campus so alot of us are lecturers therefore we may end up in more detail but not as an initial hi how are you? what do you do?

I'm even vaguer
Can't be bothered explaining my job so I just say scientist.

I barely understand my job title myself 😅

I usually say "research scientist", stay nice and vague! I'd like to say chemist really, but then there's confusion over whether I'm a pharmacist.

My job title doesn't tell you what I do so it's easier to say my profession

I either say 'I work at the university' or 'I'm a researcher'. I only go into detail (subject/seniority) when at work related events.