Some people at my company (not a consulting firm) have external titles. It's not meant to be underhanded, but instead to allow the other parties to understand the hierarchy (or at least, that's the way it was explained to me). The internal titles are very standardized and can are pretty meaningless to those who are unfamiliar with the reporting structure. So the internal titles might be "Operations Manager I", "Operations Manager II", etc. and external ones might be VP of Operations, SVP of Operations etc.

Upside - now you know what she's like.
Downside - she's someone to watch out for and to never, ever, trust!

A person who has so little respect for superiors (and other co-workers no doubt) that she actually emails negative comments about them, and who then has the nerve and savvy to come to you directly for damage control, but in the process still manages to put you down and criticize a former co-worker.
Wow. I would have been more offended by her follow-up than her initial opinion. She was offering you a fake apology.

Watch your back, and document your communication with this person.

^ glad it worked out.

OP here. Thanks for all of the feedback.

She ended up coming to my office to apologize before I had a chance to respond. Which, stepping up like that is definitely to her credit. I said it was fine although I'm terrible at not showing how I feel, so she probably picked up that I was annoyed. I also said that my external title is actually VP (I thought maybe she didn't realize). She said she knew, and that it was "fine" for my business cards (as though I had any role in what was put on them), but that people didn't really do that on email. She also said that she'd sent the email because I reminded her of someone that had been at the company previously who had made a big deal out of her title, and "things didn't really go well for her." The story seemed a little odd, first because it wasn't really in keeping with the content of her email and second because she obviously thought very little of this other woman, so why bring it up?

Anyway, I did look at others' emails, and some people include titles (including my boss) and others do not. I also talked to a colleague (didn't explain the whole story) and he basically said that it varies person to person on whether title is included, but there's no one way of doing it. He said that in my circumstance, he'd include it, for the very reasons that I'd included it in the first place.

For the question regarding internal and external titles, I'm not really sure why the company does it. We don't bill or have clients, so I'm pretty confident it's not meant to be underhanded. My best guess is that for some employees, like me, that do a lot of external work, it's good to have a more senior title, but as a general matter, a person at my level in the company wouldn't typically have that title. It may also be that the company feels that other companies are more quick to use those titles, so in order to best convey employee seniority vis a vis other companies, it's better to use external titles.

Oh, also, I totally get not getting on the bad side of the admin. Generally, this secretary actually seems pretty good and I was surprised by the email. I don't have a strong sense of her relationship with my boss, but the bottom line is that the secretary and I are going to have an ongoing relationship, so honestly this is more annoying than anything, because it's kind of soured my view of her. Also, I'm a pretty friendly person and thought we'd gotten off to a nice start, so I think that's where some of my embarrassment came from.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DO NOT PISS OFF YOUR BOSSES SECRETARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It will make his life miserable and hence your life will be miserable. Print the email. Quietly ask your boss if you are using the wrong title on your emails.

1. It makes you look humble.
2. You told on the secretary without it looking like you told on the secretary. (Telling on the secretary make you a little bitch. BTW.)

Hahaha you must be a secretary.

No. I am a boss.

I'm a boss, too, and agree with this boss.

Pissing on admin support will not accrue to your benefit in the long run. Don't be a dick (/bitch).

+1 New hire versus long term admin? Admin will ALWAYS win. Good admins are worth their weight in gold.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I still want to know why companies have separate titles.

Me too! Is it so they can bill hire rates for govt contrats?

I work for a consulting firm and we have internal and external titles. Ours are because our internal structure is simple e.g. Analyst I, Anaylst II, etc. We have external titles because "analyst" covers tons of skillsets. So an Anaylst II may have "Business Process Improvement Team Lead" on their business cards.

Why would you have a different title internally and externally? Genuinely curious. Your title should be your title.

I would ignore it.

I'm currently a Director. I used to have a VP title at my old job. Depending on the company, a Director is higher than a VP.

Lower level people are so catty. I once became on bad terms with a secretary. She seriously made my life hell. Not worth it.

Anonymous wrote:You are an idiot and don't deserve a management position if you can't figure this out on your own

That's right.

But how about just replying, " I believe you forwarded this to the wrong person"...will that still bite OP in the ass, even if she remains polite to the secretary and doesn't involve anyone else?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DO NOT PISS OFF YOUR BOSSES SECRETARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It will make his life miserable and hence your life will be miserable. Print the email. Quietly ask your boss if you are using the wrong title on your emails.

1. It makes you look humble.
2. You told on the secretary without it looking like you told on the secretary. (Telling on the secretary make you a little bitch. BTW.)

Hahaha you must be a secretary.

No. I am a boss.

I'm a boss, too, and agree with this boss.

Pissing on admin support will not accrue to your benefit in the long run. Don't be a dick (/bitch).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would reply to the email with something like:

Hi _______,
Presumably you meant to forward this, rather than send it to me? Just to clarify, although my internal title is Director, my external title is VP, and that's why it's included in my signature line. Glad I could provide some amusement for you, though!

Best,
OP

No. Don't do this.

Yes, this is uber snarky and bitchy and will ensure that she takes every chance to screw with you, as she should if you have an attitude like that on parade.

The whole title thing seems off kilter at this place if it's so confusing to know who or what you are depending on whether you're talking internal or external. Odd IMO, so a polite and discreet inquiry on what is appropriate in that particular culture, however muti-faceted and byzantine it may be, would be a more prudent move.

You are an idiot and don't deserve a management position if you can't figure this out on your own

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I still want to know why companies have separate titles.

Me too! Is it so they can bill hire rates for govt contrats?

Me too. It seems shady.

I've never heard of this.

Eye opening and it does seem shady

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DO NOT PISS OFF YOUR BOSSES SECRETARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It will make his life miserable and hence your life will be miserable. Print the email. Quietly ask your boss if you are using the wrong title on your emails.

1. It makes you look humble.
2. You told on the secretary without it looking like you told on the secretary. (Telling on the secretary make you a little bitch. BTW.)

Hahaha you must be a secretary.

No. I am a boss.

Maybe to the other secretaries. You sound like an idiot and a gossip. She does not need to humble herself before a secretary who was rude to her. All these old bitch secretaries need to learn that they can't disrespect people just because they're younger.

She's not humbling herself before the secretary - that would only be the case if she asked the secretary what she should do in terms of her title in her email signature.

OP shouldn't directly deal with the secretary at all. Don't respond to her, don't bring it up to her. And presumably OP is smart enough/observant enough to notice if other people in her office have their titles in their signature and is following the accepted practice at her firm.