build your own job title
In the old days job titles were created by grabbing a bit of Latin/Greek and adding ‘er’ or ‘or’ to it. The suffix just means “one who does”.
Something of the bits of Latin /Greek are obvious, some not:
Carpenter=wagons, Cooper=vats, Plumber=lead, Lawyer=law, Miner=digging, Baker=roasting, Butcher=slaughtering goats, Doctor=teaching, Teacher=also teaching, Farmer=collecting tax/rent, Soldier=being paid, Tinker=jingles, Tailor=cuts, Dyer= dark/secrets
Vicar interestingly just means substitute or deputy.
And who slaughtered anything that wasn’t a goat? (I’m putting the etymological dictionary away now).
It seems for a modern job title that a single word is not enough. You need a combination of object and activity.
Possible objects in my professional sphere:
- project/programme
product
business
content
user experience
customer experience
usability
interaction
systems
software
applications
development
technical
information
accessibility
search
web
digital
online
intranet
e-commerce
sharepoint
Posssible activities:
- manager
analyst
architect
designer
producer
engineer
Some people seem to feel hemmed in by the activities bit and choose something vaguer. This usually implies they will only produce opinions not things e.g.
- consultant
expert
specialist
professional
In the public and non-profit sector you also get ‘officer’ as in police officer but also projects officer or knowledge officer. This usually just means one who holds an office and seems to be a way of avoiding saying ‘man’. “Head of” is similar but usually at the opposite end of the hierarchy.
All combinations of object and activity are plausible and many are common. Although so far I only know one Usability and experience design oompa-loompa.