Advice On: Titles

I'm a freelance copywriter, but I'm not sure what exactly to call myself. Copywriter, freelance copywriter, creative director, copycat?

The reason you don't know what to call yourself is because nobody in this business has a title that means anything anymore.

Anyone can call themselves anything. And do.

Since we're on the topic of meaningless titles I'd like to digress for a moment into a subspecies of the meaningless title: The totally bullshit title. The trend reared it's ugly head for awhile in the 90s, and seems like it's gaining a little traction again. If you have Jedi, Ninja, Rockstar, Guru, Diva, or Insurgent in your title, you're heading down a path that Sting and The Edge have been regretting for decades. Stop the title orgy before it starts.

Back to your problem. It's easy. You write copy? You're a Copywriter. You do from your basement? Freelance Copywriter. Have you been doing it for more than, I don't know, maybe 7 years? Great, now you're a Senior Copywriter. Do you tell other Copywriters what to write? Congratulations, you're a Creative Director. Do you take credit for other Creative Director's work? Fantastic, you're an Executive Creative Director. Do you not only take credit for their work but also present it as your own while talking on the phone to someone in another country? Hello Mr. Global Creative Director.

Just be glad you're not a designer. Other than the UX/UI/IA/SME BSers, they're the most screwed up. Talk about titles that don't reflect your actual skills. I'm really not even sure there are designers anymore, I think you just start out as a Senior Designer now. That is, if you're unlucky enough to get hired by a shop that still has Senior Designers. In all likelihood you'll just start out as an Art Director and if you get to design your own business cards you're just going to jump straight ahead to Creative Director. Interns are production designers and production designers are...well, I guess they're still production designers. And God bless them for it.

Happy to help,

Speedball

Need advice? You can contact Speedball at speedball@theegotist.com, drop him a question in the Forum or follow him on Twitter: @spdbll.