These days, employers don't want employees. They want Jedis, ninjas, badasses.
The number of job postings with creative and interesting titles like those has skyrocketed in recent years, according to an analysis by job search site Indeed.com (h/t The Resumator).
The number of listings including the word “badass,” for example, has increased by 2,000 percent on the site since 2006, NJ.com reports. That's nothing compared to "ninja," the use of which has exploded by 7,000 percent. Then there's just “rock star," with which, let's just say, neither term can compete.
So what gives? It seems that in the fierce competition for top-level programming talent, technology companies hope a fun job description will help give them the edge.
“It’s a way to stand out,” Eric Gaydos, associate marketing manager at The Resumator, told NJ.com. “There is so much demand for the people who are good that this is more of a way to say ‘this is the best place to do that job.’”
Oddly, despite some tech jobs ranking among the best available, many companies say they can't find the talent. Take IT professionals, or IT Pro Evangelists as they're called at Microsoft. Those jobs are among those with the greatest talent shortages, according to a recent report by workforce solutions company ManpowerGroup.
But it’s not just tech companies that know how to have fun with a job description. Titles like “guru,” “extraordinaire” and others have been appearing on business cards for years, according to business card creator MOO.com. Just look at Honest Tea's “TeaEO," the Matrix group's “Chief Trouble Maker" and the Google's very own “Intergalactic Federation King Almighty and Commander of the Universe."
If it all sounds a bit much, that's because it is. Since a job title can be “a projection of you as a person,” language professor Frank Nuessel told The Boston Globe, “a pompous job title, [is] going to go with you.’’ So next time, maybe lay off the King Almighty or whatever.
