Silly job names

VISION Clearance Engineer has been voted the daftest job title of all time, crowning a growing list of appointments whose descriptions seem designed to bemuse rather than inspire.

The euphemism for window cleaner won 28 per cent of the votes in a nationwide survey and is winner of the poll to find the most laughable job names.
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The description came ahead of Education Centre Nourishment Production Assistant (dinner lady) and Waste Removal Engineer (binman). The bizarre examples of title embellishment come despite campaigns to make the language of job descriptions clear and simple.

A trawl of appointments on offer yesterday included an Enhanced Supported Housing Co-ordinator for a housing association in Edinburgh, while West Lothian Council is recruiting for a Climbing Arborist and a Peripatetic Unqualified Day Centre Officer.

A spokesman for the Plain English Campaign said: "There has clearly been a rise in the use of silly and inflated job titles in recent years. Complicated job titles are not wrong, they are just unnecessary.

"While it is important that employees feel valued, it is equally important they understand what is expected of them. Not everyone understands the word 'replenishment', or knows what 'vision clearance' is."

Fraser McLean, business manager in Scotland for recruitment firm Manpower, said: "Some of these titles have to be seen to be believed. These people must have extra-large business cards just to fit all the words in.

"When it comes to finding the right people for a job, there is a risk that the perfect candidate might never apply if no-one can make sense of the advert. Jargon tends to creep in when companies need to be specific. You can't just advertise for a secretary because that could mean dozens of different things.

"The trick is to bridge the gap between the simple and the informative."

Fourth in the poll, carried out by the video recruitment website Jobs2view, was Domestic Engineer - or housewife to most people - followed by Knowledge Navigator, or teacher. The survey of 4,000 UK adults also revealed that a quarter of people admitted to having had an incomprehensible job title.