LinkedIn title inflation alerts

They say a title doesn’t matter until you’re looking for a new job. I don’t know who said that, but they did. Titles are a weird formality in the world that really doesn’t matter a ton in tech because your ability to actually get stuff done matters way, way more. I digress…

Title inflation is not a new concept, but it did become a more persistent trend during the pandemic. Due to the insane growth cycles, many technology companies went through, employees often saw outsized gains in both compensation and title. The last few years we’ve seen a bit of a reversal with layoffs and reconsolidating with companies like Meta, Alphabet, and Amazon to name just a few.

You really don’t know if someone’s title is inflated unless it’s either painfully obvious or you get a chance to work with them directly. What if platforms like LinkedIn were more explicit about when a title was inflated? The tricky part here is defining the criteria to define when and how inflation occurs. I’m not sure how it would work, but it’d be a pretty interesting data point for recruiters and hiring managers if it did exist.

Have a friend with an inflated title? Send them this newsletter.

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