Can I use a job title I wasn't officially given?
You cannot simply list a higher-level title like COO or Interim CFO just because you assumed those responsibilities. When an employer asks you to perform all the duties of an elevated role without officially granting the title, you are left unable to straightforwardly claim that experience on your resume without colleagues disputing it.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1List all the higher-level responsibilities in the bullet points under your official title.Did this help you?
- 2Use phrases like 'de facto' or 'acting' when speaking in interviews rather than writing it on the resume.Did this help you?
- 3Put the unofficial title in parentheses next to the official one (e.g., Controller (Acting CFO)).Did this help you?
- 4Leaving the upcoming job off the resume to avoid signaling commitment to another company and because it demonstrates no actual experience.Did this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Just because I am the acting COO doesn’t mean I get to put COO on my title.”source ↗
“I accepted a big 4 new grad position , but it doesn’t start until 2028, I don’t have anything to do this summer so I was going to apply to some internships, is it worth adding that job to my resume or is that dumb ?”source ↗