Job titles get quirky

Four Legacies Mortgage customers don't work with a loan officer. Instead, they are connected with the company's chief motivation officer or its wealth creation specialist.

"We wanted to be creative with our titles," said Brent Rauch, chief inspiration officer at Four Legacies in West Des Moines, Iowa. "And I help inspire financial freedom for customers."A growing number of companies are looking at clever job titles to create a buzz and set themselves apart from competitors. And it's not just the technology and advertising firms that are ditching traditional titles in favor of fun and funky ones.Companies sometimes use nontraditional titles to mix things up at a company, said Paula Morrow, marketing professor at Iowa State University. Or it signals a change in leadership in which executives are trying "to show they are different than what's been in the past," Morrow said.Computer repair chain the Geek Squad, a division of Best Buy Inc., hires special agents, field marshals and mission controllers to operate on the front lines, while back-office operations still are conducted by the chief executive and a bevy of presidents and vice presidents.Food service employees tend to have unique job titles.



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