On the show Property Brothers today, a rather annoying woman called herself a “household engineer”, and it threw me for a loop until I realized she was a stay-at-home-parent.
I didn’t know at the time what irked me so much about the title she used to call herself, but after reflecting upon it, I realized it was that she was ashamed of calling herself simply what she is: a stay at home mom.
SHE WAS ASHAMED OF “JUST” BEING A STAY AT HOME PARENT
Trying to give yourself a “better title” just means you think your job at home is worth less than a job outside of the home, and you feel the need to make it sound better than what it simply is.
Tongue-in-cheek or not, that’s just insulting to all stay-at-home parents in my opinion.
It is NOT easy to take care of children all the time, especially little ones that can’t understand what you’re saying.
It’s much easier to tune out in a meeting at the office while the project manager blathers on yet again about cost-cutting than it is to tune out your child having a meltdown because they missed their nap.
FANCYING UP YOUR JOB TITLE DOESN’T CHANGE WHAT IT IS
I am not saying a stay at home parent is a bad job by any means, but it does show that you’re embarrassed to use the real title. I remember when I was a high school student, trying to figure out what to put on my resume to apply for jobs in the summer.
Food Artist?
Burger Attendant?
Fast Food Engineer?
All of them sounded stupid because they were first of all, stupid names to begin with (yeah, not going to lie), but I was trying to put lipstick on a pig.
This goes for people who have think they have crappy, lowly jobs right now and want to make it sound better than it really is, like “Project Assistant” at “So-And-So Big Firm / Designer / Outfit”, when really they were just secretaries who fetched coffee, and indirectly felt like they helped keep the project caffeinated, so they felt entitled to elevate themselves to “Project Assistants”.
ONCE YOU GET INTO AN INTERVIEW, IT IS ALL OVER
I was able to figure out what she meant after a few seconds by “Household Engineer”, but then I realized that if by chance she met others and they would ask her: So what do you do?, and she would reply “Oh I’m a Household Engineer“, if English is not their first language or they just didn’t get the play on words, they might literally say:
“Oh that’s interesting I’ve never heard of an Engineering degree for the residences. What do you have to do, exactly?“
… and she’d have to explain that no she’s not really an engineer per se, she’s a stay-at-home-parent.
Some might laugh it off as a good joke, but others might just feel pity (ICK!) that you felt so ashamed of just coming out and saying proudly that you take care of your kids full-time.
Where’s the shame in saying so?
Isn’t it more shameful and embarrassing to be caught in a lie where you’re dressing the pig up in a petticoat, trying to pass it off as a lady?
This is what happens in real interviews when people call themselves “Project Assistants”, only to have the interviewer realize that they don’t know how to use any of the current project management software, and they were only fetching coffee and running errands for the most part.
