Fed: Job title

[Anonymous]

I am planning to take up a Federal job shortly and I am moving from the private industry where I am a "Senior Software Architect". The title I am being offered is a "Computer Scientist" and the pay is slightly lower. The person who is hiring me is relatively new to the agency and I mentioned the concern about the title (that it doesn't show any level of expertise).

What he says is that, unless the person is in a supervisory position, the titles are all the same. Is it true that there are no internal titles etc? I plan to stay at this job for about 5 years, so the title is important (I think).

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

I don't know if it's true everywhere, but the job title for our agency is technically the series title. So he would be correct. I've had three promotions up the chain but I am always XX Engineer because my series is 08XX. I have a secondary title I use that better describes my responsibilities, but my name plate just says Engineer.

[Anonymous]

What grade is the position? That is a better indication of what kind of job it is.

But yes, your designation is your job series - the one that appears in your computer bio. You may have another job title that's on the vacancy, but it doesn't really matter. You could use it on the outside, why not?

I strongly suspect you're going into the fed job in the wrong head space. Don't alienate too many people when you get there.

[Anonymous]

You are what your GS level is; nothing more, and nothing less.

[Anonymous]

The title for postings in my agency are all General Attorney, which also sounds not great. But the title used on business cards, court filings, resumes, etc are Staff Attorney, Counsel, or Senior Counsel depending on grade. Your position may have a similar arrangement.

[Anonymous]

If I was the hiring manager, I'd already be regretting hiring you if you are concerned about your job title. Here's my advice - get over yourself.

[Anonymous]

At my federal agency, it's pretty difficult (if not impossible) to change your official job title. It's in an official description of the position that has to be vetted through central HR and they have specific rules for what to use. It can also vary by division. We have three divisions that work closely together as lawyers and one division universally uses the title "attorney advisor" for all grades, whereas the other two have a whole bunch of titles that vary by grade.

Long story short, it's pretty difficult to change the job title in many agencies.

[Anonymous]

This is true at my agency. The titles are consistent among positions, because they go with a specific job series and specific description. I wouldn't worry too much about it because anyone familiar with the hiring and personnel activities of government would be familiar with this -- if and when you are looking for a new job, your resume would spell out the key responsibilities in enough detail to make it clear that it was a more senior position.

[Anonymous]

What many PPs have said is true: you technically have two titles - your series designation (this sort of describes your job, is generally consistent across government, and won't change as you move up the GS grades) and your actual job title (what goes on your business cards, and likely changes with grade level promotions). Don't sweat your series designation - no one cares.

[Anonymous]

There is truth to that. We have specific titles in my agency and they point to job descriptions. And they're department wide. You can't just add "senior" to your name or "vice president" like the private sector seems to do. hah

[Anonymous]

The job title on your offer letter relates to the job series number, not your rank. ie - 343 is a Program Analyst, 011 is Economist, etc etc etc. Whether you're a GS-9 or a GS-15, those series numbers have the same title. The distinction of "supervisory" might be put in front of that title in some cases, but not all supervisors officially have that on their HR forms.

However, your functional job title and what you put on your business cards and in your email signature does not have to word for word match the title assigned to your job series. For example, we have a few "senior advisor" folks in our team - that is definitely not an official job title in the HR system. I manage a few programs, so when I'm in a meeting related to those activities, I introduce myself as the program manager because that's the plain English, honest description of my role.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am planning to take up a Federal job shortly and I am moving from the private industry where I am a "Senior Software Architect". The title I am being offered is a "Computer Scientist" and the pay is slightly lower. The person who is hiring me is relatively new to the agency and I mentioned the concern about the title (that it doesn't show any level of expertise).

What he says is that, unless the person is in a supervisory position, the titles are all the same. Is it true that there are no internal titles etc? I plan to stay at this job for about 5 years, so the title is important (I think).

Thanks.

Five years as a government engineer? What private industry job would you plan to transition too; the workflow and technology tends to be vastly different so seems like would be hard to exit elsewhere.

And honestly, what self respecting engineer gets worked up over job titles???

[Anonymous]

Title not important. They can fire you with no warning or process in your first probationary year so my advice is to not be an asshole for the next 365 days.