New Age Babel: Titles today can leave you tongue-tied.

• Author: Marks, Susan J.
• Position: Colorado Cutting Edge - Brief Article

WHAT'S IN A JOB TITLE THESE DAYS? PLENTY more than just work responsibilities if the company is Boulder-based just Techjobs.com.

The company's officers and employees, who offer tech employers and job seekers a meeting place, themselves have some rather unusual job monikers. And that goes for everyone.

Company co-founder and boss Russ Curtis, for example, officially goes by the title of "chief nerd" though he admits he functions as the CEO. And Rudy Lacovara, also a co-founder, is "chief geek." In mainstream circles that represents justTechjob's chief operating officer.

The Boulder company isn't alone in the move away from traditional job titles.

The practice, undertaken by some companies as a way to better describe job functions, as a conscious effort to define a unique corporate culture, or as bait to attract the attention of younger creative talent, is spreading fast.

So fast it may be hard to keep up.

T. Williams Consulting, a Collegeville, Pa.-based human resources company, offers a few of the more imaginative new titles:

* Chief enthusiasm officer: an obviously less than hardball chief executive.

* Chief evangelist: marketing and promotions manager.

* Chief imagination officer: creative director.

* Minister of dollars and sense: chief financial officer.

And the titles are no joke. Fred Hobbs, justTechjob's "marketing nerd," said his company's playful approach is calculated to appeal to the audience the company hopes to attract: programmers, network administrators and others involved in backend technologies.

"Our slogan is 'Nerds wanted,"' said Hobbs. "So we try and play it up. Everybody's title has nerd in it."

Nonetheless, not everyone is so upbeat toward non-mainstream job titles.

Wendy Enelow, Lynchburg, Va.-based site expert...