Ask HN: Appropriate title to brand myself as a consultant?

tptacek · on May 27, 2014

This is easy: call yourself a Principal, which in technical consulting has the meaning "Consultant/Owner", but conveniently leaves all the specifics out of what you do.

robbiea · on May 27, 2014

Agreed. Principal works great if you want to brand yourself as someone who is looking for longer term projects and you can do multiple things.

tomek_zemla · on May 27, 2014

I have a somewhat similar profile to you, background in computer science and design and visual arts. I have been working independently for around 15 years now and I ended up adopting a 'title' of Creative Technologist. I picked it up because... I like it or to be precise I like how it reflects what my interests are.

This being said, I don't think it does much to improve my business which is based on word of mouth referrals and demos of my previous work. That's my brand as the consultant. It's not really the title, but people mentioning my name to new potential clients who ask for somebody who does creative technology... I don't think they actually use the Creative Technologist label in these conversations/referrals.

And in my last full-time job before before going solo I had a title of Messenger. I was the connector between developers, designers and business teams. I thought it was appropriate, but I don't think anybody ever used it in conversation. It was a good conversation starter when handing in my business card, though!

taprun · on May 27, 2014

This is a problem that I've been struggling with as well.

I started calling myself a consultant, but I've found that seems to be a title that a LOT of hacks around here use.

I think the best approach is to make a name for yourself. Do people say "Seth Godin, the marketer" or just "Seth Godin"? When you can say "I'm notduncansmith", you can charge a premium, because no one else can say "I am notduncansmith" (Uggh, did you chose your username for the sole purpose of ruining my example??).

Long story short, when you get a reputation, title doesn't matter as much, and you can just be you.

notduncansmith · on May 27, 2014

That's a good thought, and certainly my end goal. Until I get there though, I feel like I should have some sort of concise way of telling people what I do. "Consultant" does carry a certain connotation (and not always good), but it's much better than "web strategist", which I feel is an apt description of what I do but is within spitting distance of "Social Media Guru". Maybe I should just fake it 'til I make it? That's how I got my start in this field.

By the way, I chose the username for a bit of pretend plausible deniability. "Look NSA guys, that post was clearly not written by Duncan Smith. It says so right here!" My sense of humor.

ja27 · on May 27, 2014

Senior consultant or even principal consultant.

tptacek · on May 27, 2014

If you're a sole proprietor, it would be pretty silly to call yourself a "Sr Consultant" --- Sr compared to what?

Principal is in fact a title used for Consultant/Owners.

Principal Consultant, on the other hand, is usually the next step after "Sr Consultant". Unlike "Sr Consultant", you will not sound goofy calling yourself that. However, if your consultancy grows and you need to create a ladder of titles, you may want to reserve Principal Consultant for employees.

(I hate that Principal Consultant has that meaning; it makes no sense to me that the owners of the firm are "Principals" and the most senior delivering consultants "Principal Consultants" --- what are they, the Presidential Guard? But that is how it works.)