Does anyone know what you do?

People used to be known by their job titles. I started as a Reservations Agent, becoming a Senior Reservations Agent after six months.

Then I became a Sales Information Officer. Was I in the army? No, along with a colleague, I constructed and wrote 7,000 screens of marketing and sales copy for a British Airways brochure site on Prestel (remember it?); today we’d call it a web site.

Next I was a Quality Monitoring Analyst, which I quickly changed to Communications Executive. In this role I presented data in swanky new graphics packages and wrote business reports presented to the BA board.

Responding to an advert in the Guardian media section, I joined an international law firm as an Editorial Assistant. Who did I assist? Me. I arrived to an empty desk, went out and bought some Apple Macs and established a publishing operation producing law magazines, booklets and books for the firm’s global clientele.

What am I now? Well, I combine all that experience and more, but I can’t call myself a Sales Information Communications Copywriter Editor Proofreader Project Managing Officer Executive Partner.

Few job titles describe what a person does accurately. This isn’t helpful when people ask what you do and want a one word answer.

I often describe myself as a copywriter, although this is only one element of what I get up to, as words involve me with editing, proofreading, public relations, marketing, print, the internet and more. Saying you do a bit of this, some of that and more besides just confuses people.

Of course, each one of us is more than a job title and what’s best is not to be known as that copywriter chap but as the one and only robertz, just as you are the one and only you.

After yesterday’s blog, have you planned your PR programme for the months or year ahead?

z2zine tomorrow: Cut, cut and cut again

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