How do I ask for a change in title

[marjwalls]

I am new to the board (so hi) but want to post a question that bothers me.   I have a title of "Sr. Staff Assistant" and want to get it changed to Administrative (or even Executive) Assistant.   I looked over the actual duties of my job and they are the same as the Administrative Assistants.   I am not sure why it is important to me.  I feel like my peers think my job is less than theirs, when it is the same not counting our department functions.  The rank and pay is the same for Administrative/Staff Assistant, so it isn't a move up.  It is just a more accurate description to my position.

Am I being petty to worry about a title.  After all a title is just a title.

[gee4]

Hi and welcome.

I understand what you mean but knowing the way certain companies operate, job titles for admins never very often change and you can be stuck with the same title for years.

As you say, if it was promotion or a change in direction, perhaps this would be given some consideration.

I think your current title sounds quite senior so I wouldn't worry too much.  Are you in charge of staff or do you provide PA to duties to certain individuals?  That might have some bearing.

[geminigirl]

I have a title of "Sr. Staff Assistant" and want to get it changed to Administrative (or even Executive) Assistant.   <snip>

Am I being petty to worry about a title.  After all a title is just a title.

Hi and welcome!

As Gee says, it can be quite difficult to get your title changed - been there, done that.  Have you spoken to your boss and to the HR Department?  Another thing that might help in terms of recognition by your peers - you've written your job title above as "Sr. Staff Assistant".  Do you actually sign yourself off on that on letters & emails etc or is it written in full ie "Senior".  If the former, I would start writing it in full.  It's just a small thing, but could be significant.  Incidentally, are you Assistant to Senior Staff or are you a Senior amongst staff assistants?  People read things differently ...

I've sometimes found that people refer to us as "So & So's PA" in quite a dismissive tone (as annoying as being "just a secretary" - Just A really doesn't do it justice) so I will ALWAYS say and write the term in full and sometimes drop the "Personal" and go for "Assistant".  They are little things, and can be quite petty, but we sometimes have to fight for the smallest recognition.

[rose.winter1980]

A Rose by any other name would smell as sweet ... (that's definitely me!  ).

Companies vary a great deal as to what job titles they ascribe to various positions, particularly as very few titles are, in fact, protected by law.  In my very first job, the lowest grade staff were called "Personal Assistant", which generally means someone of a higher grade.  This worked to my advantage when I applied for my next job and went from being the lowest grade to "Secretary" to a President of a company.  My CV was very truthful, references obtained yadda yadda, and I demonstrated I had the requisite capabilities and competencies, so there was no problem.  In my current organisation "Administrative Assistant" is the most junior post, "Secretary" the next level, and there is only one "Executive Assistant" - moi.

If you are assistant to the senior staff and those seniors are management, then what about "Management Assistant" or "Senior Administrative Assistant", either of which might describe your post better.

Anyone who describes herself or himself as "just a secretary" (as in "just a housewife") should be made to count paperclips for a year.  There was a time when secretaries were ALL men.  It was only when women became involved in the profession, the advent of the typewriter and typing pool, that the profession was downgraded.  The former male secretaries were really the old-fashioned equivalent of a business assistant today and really quite senior, in control of substantial budgets, decision-making etc.

Good luck with re-framing your job title and do let us know how you get on.

Best wishes,

Rose

[Jackie G]

Hi

Welcome to DD and a nice juicy poser for us all.

I agree with everything, especially the 'Sr' to 'Senior'

Ok, this is slightly off the wall.  You could just start calling yourself the title you want to have, and by osmosis it could just happen over time . . . depends on the culture of the organisation etc, and you know best on that one!

[suecsi]

I have experience of the Staff Assistant thing.  Are you working in the US or for a US organisation?

I worked for 6 years for a major US airline in their UK HQ.  All admin staff were graded according to the level of the boss they worked for - so my boss - a Level 6 Manager (European VP for Customer Services) had a grade 54, his boss (the European VP) had a grade 55, and the hierarchies below that had grade 53's and 52's (usually for junior admins behind the scenes at the airport).

The next level up from admins was to be a Level 1 Manager.  My boss tried to get my role uplifted to a Level 1 Manager, but due to a management head count freeze (it was one of the airlines involved in 9/11) that came in just as he was trying to process it, it couldn't happen.

For the 4 years I worked for this particular boss I signed myself off as PA to VP European Customer Services, and no-one ever questioned it.  The single PA above me did the same, but on our contracts, and on internal listings, we were both listed as Staff Assistant.

Everyone referred to me as 'Joe's assistant' in a positive way.

[msmarieh]

Ok, this is slightly off the wall.  You could just start calling yourself the title you want to have, and by osmosis it could just happen over time . . . depends on the culture of the organisation etc, and you know best on that one!

I'm afraid I have to strongly disagree with Jackie on this suggestion. If you have been using your title in correspondence (internal or external) and you change it yourself without company approval, you are setting yourself up at the very least for chastising and at the worst, potential disciplinary action. Many companies would not take kindly to employees giving themselves a "promotion" (lateral or otherwise) and as you would have had before and after correspondence, it would indicate that it was a deliberate change to your signature.

I would talk to your HR folks and boss. I'd make an appointment, go in with a list of your current responsibilities and both job descriptions and then make an argument for your title to classify your job appropriately. Since there is no change in salary range, I would push hard for the accuracy and question the "why" if they refused. 

Let the title request stand on its own merits though. Don't try to justify it by saying everybody else has the other title unless you can objectively prove that everyone's job responsibilities are identical.

[sparkles_95130]

Your company culture has a lot to do with it. Not sure if you could get out of the whole thing by listing yourself as simply:

Your Name
Assistant to Bob Boss
Vice President of Rocket Science
Acme Corporation

If you are the Senior Asst to Bob Boss I'd keep the word Senior in. In the company I work for lots of people have made-up titles and I only recently started using my formal EA title. Up to now I've only listed my name/dept in my signatures specifically to keep people away from the "she's just a secretary" mindset.

[laurafmcdermott]

I agree with Jackie somewhat, depending on culture.  At my (huge) company, we all have job titles that fit into the corporate structure; however, we are able to have "marketing titles" to more accurately describe what we are to both internal and external folks.    As long as you have manager approval, your marketing title can be printed on business cards, used for correspondence and email signatures and anywhere else you would use a title.  Again though, this depends entirely on your relationship with your manager and your corporate culture.

[Cathy S]

I have been in a similar position in a past role:

I managed the Secretarial Support Team and was PA to varying numbers of Directors at different points in the role - my job title "Business Services Support Co-ordinator"

Then I was 'made redundant' and offered a job at 25% less salary supporting 4 Directors and was called "Senior Secretary"

Finally I was given the job of allocating student staff to audits AND database analyst for client fees and my job title was "Business Services Administrator" but even though I managed both of these tasks I could not be called a Manager because that would suggest I was equal to the Audit Managers!

In my current post I am an Administrator, which is a higher grade than a PA which is a higher grade than a Secretary - there is no discussion those are the grades and the titles.

I think on balance I would prefer to have an individual title that reflected correctly what I contribute to an organisation ...

[marjwalls]

Thank you for the responses.  It is funny how shouldn't mean more but they do.  I am not sure what to do still but there is so much information to think about on this post.  Thanks.   

[EEthridge]

The title is all about perception and we want the respect we deserve.  I work for the president of a once 'rural' hospital, and when I was hired, the position was posted as "executive secretary".  After about a year, I learned the system and my boss, so I approached him and suggested my title be changed from executive secretary to Assistant to the President.  He was very receptive and told me "we do need to catch up with the times".   I also serve as Secretary to the Board of Directors and that title remained the same.  Once my title changed, I gained more respect among the employees and the community. 

You work long, hard hours and you have to learn to speak up for yourself - no one is going to do it for you!   You just have to ask.