# Name My Job **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 2, 2005, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-my-job/306632 "2005-06-02T22:39:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![c\_carol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e79b87/32.png) [@c\_carol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/c_carol)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-my-job/306632/1 "2005-06-02T22:39:16Z")
For the last several months, I’ve been working as a temp for a very small local business. It started out as filing and data entry, but the job description has gradually expanded to include things like maintaining their new website, organizing their computer files, and being the office’s unofficial computer geek (as in, “Hey, c\_carol, show me again how to print an e-mail?”), on top of all kinds of general secretarial stuff. About a week ago, they finally decided to hire me away from the temp agency. Now that I’m a Real Employee, we figure I need an official job title, but none of us can figure out what it should be. “Administrative Assistant” doesn’t cover all of my responsibilities, and neither does “Webmaster”. One person suggested something along the lines of “Computer Manager”, but that sounds rather excessive to me - I don’t manage any employees, I don’t really even manage the office network, I mostly just design complicated spreadsheets and simple webpages. So what, exactly, am I? ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-my-job/306632/2 "2005-06-02T22:43:40Z")
Dogsbody? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-my-job/306632/3 "2005-06-02T22:55:46Z")
Supreme Being ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-my-job/306632/4 "2005-06-02T23:40:58Z")
Computer Applications Specialist I just made that up, but it sounds official and seems to me that it fits. You’re not a programmer, you’re not the network guy, you’re the person that people go to when they need help with common software applications like email and word and such. ---
**Author:** ![Catfood\_Purrito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Catfood\_Purrito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catfood_Purrito)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2005, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-my-job/306632/5 "2005-06-03T01:10:55Z")
Office and Technology Assistant? ---
**Author:** ![grimpixie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@grimpixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grimpixie)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2005, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-my-job/306632/6 "2005-06-03T14:47:02Z")
Office support assistant ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2005, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-my-job/306632/7 "2005-06-03T14:57:14Z")
> [@Mishell](#): > > Office and Technology Assistant? BINGO! ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2005, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-my-job/306632/8 "2005-06-03T15:20:18Z")
I’d avoid the term _assistant_ - it sounds too subservient; ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2005, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-my-job/306632/9 "2005-06-03T15:24:33Z")
…not that there’s anything wrong with being an assistant… it’s just that you’ve got the chance to make this look impressive on your CV. I’ve had the chance to do this twice and I changed ‘Stock Auditor’ and ‘Programmer’ to ‘Inventory Analyst’ and ‘Development Manager’ (both were in fact quite truthful descriptions of the jobs I was doing - it was the original titles that were so lacking). ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2005, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-my-job/306632/10 "2005-06-03T16:03:19Z")
How about Technology Manager? Or Spork Retriever. The choice is yours. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2005, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-my-job/306632/11 "2005-06-03T16:21:45Z")
IT Support Officer IT Support Administrator IT Support Executive IT Support Genie IT Support is what you’re doing. Add a noun of your choice. ---
**Author:** ![c\_carol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e79b87/32.png) [@c\_carol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/c_carol)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2005, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-my-job/306632/12 "2005-06-03T21:29:16Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Dogsbody? 😃 Well, _I_ like it, but my boss has absolutely no sense of humor, alas. > [@Athena](#): > > Computer Applications Specialist This is my favorite so far. Sounds fancier than “assistant”, more accurate than “manager”. **Futile Gesture** ’s “IT Support Somethingorother” suggestion has possibilities, too. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2005, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-my-job/306632/13 "2005-06-03T21:33:20Z")
You are the **alpha geek.** It’s a title of great respect. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2005, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-my-job/306632/14 "2005-06-03T21:37:33Z")
> [@c\_carol](#): > > on top of all kinds of general secretarial stuff. Probably I would opt for “Secretary.” Generally secretary refers to a person who keeps an office running smoothly, and in this day and age, being competent with computers would be a basic requirement, as opposed to something extra. I know that the people who do pretty much exactly what you do (including web pages, e-mail questions, etc) at my institution are called secretaries. ---
**Author:** ![stargazer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb8c5e/32.png) [@stargazer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stargazer)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2005, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-my-job/306632/15 "2005-06-03T23:59:57Z")
Office and Technology Coordinator? To me, a coordinator is at least one step above an assistant, but isn’t necessarily a specialist or a manager or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2005, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-my-job/306632/16 "2005-06-04T11:11:43Z")
WAIT! How about…Space Pirate! **Great** job title! ---
**Author:** ![ticker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@ticker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ticker)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2005, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-my-job/306632/17 "2005-06-04T23:37:00Z")
If your job title reflected what you do, they might be forced to pay you what your worth. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2005, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-my-job/306632/18 "2005-06-07T14:24:39Z")
Sooooo… what did you end up choosing, c\_carol? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2005, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-my-job/306632/19 "2005-06-07T14:38:27Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > Sooooo… what did you end up choosing, c\_carol? I think she went with [MY SUGGESTION](http://pics.sluggy.com/comics/050529.gif). 😛 ---
**Author:** ![c\_carol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e79b87/32.png) [@c\_carol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/c_carol)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2005, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-my-job/306632/20 "2005-06-07T15:47:40Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > Sooooo… what did you end up choosing, c\_carol? Sorry, no decision yet from The Powers That Be. > [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > I know that the people who do pretty much exactly what you do (including web pages, e-mail questions, etc) at my institution are called secretaries. I’m afraid you’re probably right; “secretary” or “admin assistant” is probably the most accurate term. ☹ **Bosda** , thanks! That’s really cool.