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I'm currently a graduate student that conducts the labs for a statistics course. The labs themselves only form a part of the course and the other part consists of lectures where they get a theoretical background of the subject. I'm not sure what I should put as my job title, since I'm both an adjunct tutor and lab demonstrator of sorts.

Millardo Peacecraft
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    Nobody here can know... Read your work contract. –  Nov 29 '15 at 15:52
  • @NajibIdrissi I wish I had a work contract... – Millardo Peacecraft Nov 29 '15 at 15:55
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    Graduate student / Lab instructor – Ébe Isaac Nov 29 '15 at 15:57
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    Uh... So in which sense do you have a "job" then? You need a "job" to have a "job title". Do you have pay stubs where your job title could be listed? Anything at all? Is there any record anywhere that you are employed by this university...? –  Nov 29 '15 at 16:02
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    @NajibIdrissi This type of work is considered under "graduate awards" since, in addition to the stipend recieved, one's school fee is paid. – Millardo Peacecraft Nov 29 '15 at 16:21
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    You need to ask the admin staff who tell you what work to do. We have no idea what job title they use for you. It could be anything. – David Richerby Nov 29 '15 at 16:42
  • As others have pointed out, if what you need is your official job title, yes, you'll have to try to pin someone down. If you want a term that informally describes what you do, then Ébe Isaac's terms are helpful. Also, lab assistant and teaching assistant. It would help to know if your country is more influenced by the US or the UK. – aparente001 Nov 30 '15 at 01:10
  • @aparente001 My country is a part of the commonwealth so UK.. – Millardo Peacecraft Nov 30 '15 at 01:13
  • @MillardoPeacecraft - Suggestion: edit your question and add that information. Also, if what you're looking for is an informal description, put that in your question too. – aparente001 Nov 30 '15 at 01:29

2 Answers2

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You should list whatever your official job title is, as designated by the university. (If you aren't sure, ask whoever hired you.) You should do this even if the title is vague or misleading, in which case you should add a few comments on your actual job duties.

One reason to stick to the exact title is CV verification. Some employers (both academic and non-academic) actively verify CVs, and if they call up your university and ask whether you were employed at job X during a certain span of time, then it's best if they get a definitive "yes" rather than a "kind of" or "there's no such job title". In particular, some universities care about distinctions between seemingly similar titles, such as teaching assistant and teaching fellow, so you should make sure you aren't inadvertently awarding yourself a title that your university considers fancier or fundamentally different.

Anonymous Mathematician
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  • The problem with this is.. my university isn't as organised as most. On the system I'm sure my title is simply put down as 'employee' or 'student employee', because the people in admin aren't concerned with these titles. – Millardo Peacecraft Nov 29 '15 at 15:50
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    @MillardoPeacecraft: You could still list a vague title like this. For example, on your CV you could write "Student employee, University of X" and then add a line of explanation like "Conducted weekly review sessions for Statistics 101, held office hours, and graded homework assignments." That will at least give your official title (as recognized by the university) while still specifying what you actually did. – Anonymous Mathematician Nov 29 '15 at 15:55
  • @MillardoPeacecraft your location will matter on this, but in first world countries generally some title will be listed on your employment contract, and that is the exact official title that you should use. Generally (again, jurisdiction matters) it would be an absolute mandatory legal requirement for employment that you (a) have a written contract and (b) it will include that title. It also may well be that you are performing some tasks in university as something-that's-not-employment and thus don't have a contract, but in that case it's not a job and should be just listed under your studies. – Peteris Nov 29 '15 at 21:16
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At my university, you would be a Teaching Assistant or TA. This would be true at other universities I am familiar with.

Bill Barth
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    Whereas that term is hardly used at all in British universities and certainly isn't used in universities in non-Anglophone countries. We cannot possibly know what the asker's job title is, and posting guesses doesn't really achieve anything. – David Richerby Nov 29 '15 at 18:45
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    @DavidRicherby, I agree the question is vague as written and generally agree with the comments asking for more details. – Bill Barth Nov 29 '15 at 19:19