The short answer is: never trust a job title alone. When someone asks me “what was their job,” I immediately think about the gap between what a title says and what a person actually did. I’ve seen too many “Senior Managers” who handled nothing more than scheduling, and “Coordinators” who ran multi-million-dollar budgets. So my advice is to always probe for specifics — ask about day-to-day responsibilities, the size of the team they led, and the direct outcomes they delivered.
For example, during a recent interview, a candidate claimed to be a “Marketing Director.” I asked what that meant in practice. She explained she managed a team of five, owned a $2M budget, and increased lead generation by 40% in one year. That’s the real job. Without those details, the title is just noise.
To make this easier, I often use a simple comparison table when I’m evaluating candidates:
| Job Title on Resume | Actual Responsibilities (from reference) | Key Takeaway |
|---|
| Project Manager | Managed 3 interns, tracked timelines in Excel | Entry-level coordination |
| Project Manager | Led 12 cross-functional teams, delivered $5M product launch | Senior leadership |
| Director of Operations | Oversaw vendor contracts, no P&L ownership | Middle management |
| Director of Operations | Owned $20M department budget, approved hires | Executive role |
The pattern is clear: the same title can mean wildly different things across companies and industries. So when I’m screening, I go beyond “what was their job” and focus on impact, scope, and context. That’s where the real insight lives.
