Sometimes a job title doesn't do the actual job justice, but sometimes the title is pretty accurate and the job is just not that interesting. "What do you do?" is hands down the most common small-talk question when you meet someone new, and the answer can become a little more complicated if your situation falls into one of the above scenarios. You may even be tempted to portray your job as something that it's not.
Do you add hype when talking about your job?
David & Scotti
Levi's
Homebase
i totally do! technically i'm a paralegal because i work under a lawyer, but really this place is a call center and i do data entry HAHA! but honestly i'm super important to the company because no one does what i do, so i feel the need to hype it up and make it sound way fancier than it is
1I simplify it by just saying. "I'm a writer." It's easier than explaining the company, the position, my duties, etc. I don't think that's hyping it though.
2I say I'm a cake decorator or a baker... I just don't tell them it's at a grocery store.
3I usually answer with "I work at NASA" and hope they leave it at that . . . explaining what I actually do there takes a lot of time and big words and usually the person I'm talking to looks kind of sorry they asked by the time I'm done. . . . I go for honesty if I'm asked, though.
4I don't. I tell just tell it like it is. I'm an Order Processor and I process orders for a living. Sort of like Data Entry but I also make calls ever so often. MEH.
5I play down what I do, or rather, edit what I do. I work in higher ed and trying to explain what I do (I'm not a professor) is exasperating sometimes even though it's not all that complicated.
6I just tell it like it is. Booooring.
7If I tell people that I'm a microbiologist, they don't usually know what the heck that is, so I generally just, well, describe my job. Most of the time, I don't overhype it, but I don't really need to...lots of people are sufficiently either impressed or grossed out or both when I explain what I do at work. Not everyone gets to play with poo, urine, and the drainages from various bodily abscesses, you know
8My job involves such a random assortment of tasks (writer, administrator, coder, adviser, trainer...) and such a non-descriptive job title that I tend to simplify it by saying I'm a tech writer. It's just easier that way.
9I'm a teacher. High school science teacher. Everyone has experience with teachers, so there's no point to trying to talk it up. Also, most everyone has heard about the excess work load (way more than the 35 contractual hours I am paid for) during the school year. And certainly everyone knows about the wonderful vacations!
10I used to with my "exec. assistant" job. But I think I was trying to sell myself on it too. Fortunately I don't feel the need to pump up my job now. Assistant Mngr of a recreation center is pretty self-explanatory.
11yes and no. typically no, but when i'm trying to tell someone about what i do exactly, it's hard to describe it without hyping it up some what.
12I don't really hype up my job, but most people don't really understand what I do unless they work in politics or I take a long time to explain it, so I usually just say, "I work at a lobbying firm." People think I must be an evil lobbyist, so they no longer want to talk to me.
13Kim, you are an evil lobbyist!
14When I tell people I'm a copywriter, I inevitably get mistaken for someone who deals with intellectual property. People interpret it as "copyRIGHTER". So I have to correct them. Nowadays I keep it simple and just say, "I name toys for a living." That about sums it up.
15only when i'm on a job interview.
16No I work in the Payroll Dept so it's can't get any simpler than that.
17carhornsinapril, ditto! Hahahaha.
18I'm a singer and i got a job this summer interning for a theater. It's a really great opportunity that is going to provide me contacts and other industry related perks but to say you have an internship sounds infantile so since it pays I fudge a little bit and say I have an actually full paying job with them.
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