[JOB FILTER] Position Title for two-person team?
November 23, 2011 12:13 PM Subscribe
After spending most of the past year working on a cool project in a two-person team of contractors where we didn't have specified positions, what would be an appropriate job title to put on a resume?
I've spent much of the past year in a two-person team working on an awesome game design project for a large UN agency. The project has wrapped up, to significant acclaim, and we're both moving on to different projects. Now that I'm starting to move on, I need to consolidate this experience into a position on a resume. We never had specified job titles, and I'm struggling to contain all the stuff I did on this project in one particular position.
I was the main person on the project, taking care of things from a large part of the game design, overseeing the budgeting, writing all needed proposals, doing a large amount of the coding, doing a lot of the training on how to run the project, etc. Based on this, I think I could realistically call myself "game designer", "project manager", or "team lead".
My instinct says that "team lead" is the best choice here, since it can cover more of the range of duties -- I'd love some other ideas, though, in case I'm missing something here.
I've spent much of the past year in a two-person team working on an awesome game design project for a large UN agency. The project has wrapped up, to significant acclaim, and we're both moving on to different projects. Now that I'm starting to move on, I need to consolidate this experience into a position on a resume. We never had specified job titles, and I'm struggling to contain all the stuff I did on this project in one particular position.
I was the main person on the project, taking care of things from a large part of the game design, overseeing the budgeting, writing all needed proposals, doing a large amount of the coding, doing a lot of the training on how to run the project, etc. Based on this, I think I could realistically call myself "game designer", "project manager", or "team lead".
My instinct says that "team lead" is the best choice here, since it can cover more of the range of duties -- I'd love some other ideas, though, in case I'm missing something here.
"Team lead" is probably the worst choice for most potential employers as it is the least specific. "Team lead" doesn't tell them much.
Most employers are looking for specialists rather than generalists these days. Your position in this project seems to have been more of a generalist position so you will need to focus on certain aspects. Carmicha has it right in that you will probably want to have different versions of your resume for different targets with job title tweaked to match what they are looking for.
Of course if you are looking to get into a startup or become an entrepreneur, you may find your generalist talents more in demand.
Other potential titles:
Technical Architect
Lead Software Engineer
Product Manager
posted by rocketpup at 12:49 PM on November 23, 2011
Most employers are looking for specialists rather than generalists these days. Your position in this project seems to have been more of a generalist position so you will need to focus on certain aspects. Carmicha has it right in that you will probably want to have different versions of your resume for different targets with job title tweaked to match what they are looking for.
Of course if you are looking to get into a startup or become an entrepreneur, you may find your generalist talents more in demand.
Other potential titles:
Technical Architect
Lead Software Engineer
Product Manager
posted by rocketpup at 12:49 PM on November 23, 2011
Response by poster: To clarify, I've been working in the start-up/entrepreneur world for the past several years and expect to stay in that world for the foreseeable future.
I'm not trying to encompass generalist talents so much as I'm trying to convey the breadth of my responsibilities in the project as well as the leadership role which I played over the course of the project.
posted by andrewmarc at 1:23 PM on November 23, 2011
I'm not trying to encompass generalist talents so much as I'm trying to convey the breadth of my responsibilities in the project as well as the leadership role which I played over the course of the project.
posted by andrewmarc at 1:23 PM on November 23, 2011
Best answer: The other problem with "team lead" is that it prompts "how big was your team?" and "one" is not a good answer. "Project lead" is a bit better.
posted by smackfu at 1:50 PM on November 23, 2011
posted by smackfu at 1:50 PM on November 23, 2011
carmicha is right. The job title you put on your resume should be the same as the job you're applying for, that gets you to the interview and then it's up to you.
posted by joannemullen at 7:21 PM on November 23, 2011
posted by joannemullen at 7:21 PM on November 23, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by carmicha at 12:21 PM on November 23, 2011