It would be too cheesy to begin this post with a Shakespeare quote about names, right? So let’s start with a bit of historical expedition: custom name topic came to me when I joined IseeQ’s IT recruitment team in 2017 spring. Here everyone chooses their role name, which, to be honest, took a while for me. I tried random generators, collected ideas from LinkedIn and friends, but couldn’t catch the perfect one.
It made me think about the point of role names in general. I’ve always felt a bit bound to summarize my work responsibilities in two – or even one – word, since I had quite complex and mixed roles. How could these common answers illustrate my job? Or could I imagine a unique name that defines me genuinely well?
After relaxing with a plain paper for a brief brainstorming, framed the following: I frequently source and interview candidates, so I’m a researcher and a recruiter. I keep in touch with partner companies, then a slice of account management also comes in. But the most meaningful – and less obvious – is the individual help that I offer for both clients and applicants. It contains a pinch of consultancy about recruitment strategies, career-coaching for the uncertain, clever conclusions and positive attitude in hard times, and happy tears when we succeed together. First and last, my primary aim is to understand everyone’s plans and motivations, connect the dots, and support the formation of a great community.
The following step was widening my imagination to a more artistic level, and wake those old high school literature classes: who were the source of inspiration in the ancient mythologies? Muses, clearly, the nine Greek goddesses who presided over the arts and literature. Today a muse may be one’s special creative spirit, but we could extend that to and abstract reading, can’t we?
Finally, I’ve just put together these lovely ideas, and became a Community muse, which just fits me as much as it could! Later I played this creativity game with all the former roles of mine, and other impressing names appeared, such as Recruitment rookie (this is fairly logical), Office secrets keeper, and Customer engagement mermaid. I would recommend anyone to ponder a bit on their custom role names, even if it’s not an option to change them officially, because it has vast benefits: it challenges creativity, reveals unexplored ideas, and it is fun!