The world's weirdest job titles

Once upon a time, a job title actually gave you some idea of what a person did. They were a cleaner, say, a shop assistant or a sales manager.

Not these days. In a trend that started (where else?) in the tech sector in California, job titles have become ever weirder and hard to understand. Who would imagine, for example, that the job of 'chief internet evangelist' would mean advising Google on technology policy, rather than preaching fire and brimstone online?

Below, we've put together our list of the wackiest job titles we can find. And who wouldn't want to be a Genius or a Sensei, an Idea Alchemist or even a Social Media Sith Lord?

In fact, it looks as if having a bizarre title can actually make you happier in your job, as the charity Make a Wish Foundation found when it decided to shake things up a few years ago.

PR staff became Magic Messengers; the chief operating officer was renamed the Minister of Dollars and Sense and the CEO became Fairy Godmother of Wishes.

And when Adam Grant of Wharton University studied the effect, he found that staff had become happier and much less stressed.

But beware. While that brilliantly witty title might feel great while you've got it, it may not be so helpful when it comes to looking for another job.

Recruiters often filter applications by job title, says Scot Herrick of US recruitment consultants Dice, and it makes sense to make sure yours is as universally relevant as possible.

"You don't want to have your company-issued 'Data Janitor II' job title leading your resume. You want 'Database Analyst' because that's the standard," he says.

"You don't want your company-issued 'Senior Project Manager Lead.' You want 'Project Manager' because that's the standard."

Nor will wacky job titles necessarily impress business contacts. So if you do have one, the best thing to do is to agree with a manager what the 'real-world' equivalent would be, maybe even getting two sets of business cards.

If, on the other hand, you're just dying to rechristen yourself, there's a rather entertaining job title generator here. Choose from the drop-down menus to come up with titles such as 'executive architect of organic brand evolution' or 'senior knowledgarian of enterprise content engagement'.

And some real-world job titles are even weirder: here are some of the funniest we've found.

Overblown titles
Airport jumper (delivers newspapers at Hartsfield Jackson Airport)
Talent delivery manager (recruiter at Randstad)
Portable associate (portable toilet cleaner for Sunbelt Rentals)
Highway environmental hygienist (US road sweeper)
Director of first impressions (receptionist at Houghton Mifton Court)
iCup technician (tea-maker at Apple)
Barista Guru (coffee-maker at Sky TV)
Catalyst (office manager at Detroit Venture Partners)
Dream consultant (assistant at TechShop)
Europe travel guru (travel agent)

Job titles for the boss
Ringleader (at Circ.us)
Chief cheerleader (at Mid America Motorworks)
Chief amazement officer (at Shephard Presentations)
President and TeaEO (CEO of Honest Tea)
Chief troublemaker (at Matrix Group)
Chief envisioning officer (at Microsoft)
The wizard of Moz (at consultancy firm Moz)
Grand Pooh Bah (at Cranium)
Fashion evangelist (ad sales manager at Tumblr)
Chief happiness officer (at coaching firm Delivering Happiness)

Marketing staff with pretensions
Ink evangelist (Aberdeenshire artist Johanna Basford)
Word herder (Freelance writer Danny Bradbury)
Wizard of light bulb moments (directs training at Senior Marketing Specialists)
Marketing rock star (numerous, including LeveUp)
Ambassador of buzz (at Grasshopper)
Crayon evangelist (oversees graphic design needs at InteQ Corp)
Growth hacker (marketing data analyst at Plentific)
Mighty eagle (marketing manager at Rovio)
Director of storytelling (blog writer at Microsoft)

Tech jobs
Digital dynamo (business analyst at Digi Telecommunications)
Apple Genius (sales assistants at Apple)
Digital overlord (web developer at Hermeris)
Senior Kindle evangelist (product manager at Amazon)
Galactic viceroy of research excellence (a researcher at Microsoft)
In-house philosopher (at Google)
Wireless futurologist (industry analyst at Gartner)
Innovation Sherpa (product developer at Microsoft)
Hacker in residence (business planner at LinkedIn)
Swiss army knife (web programmer at Rovio)
Kingpin of financial trading and technology solutions (salesperson for CFN Services)