The True Value of Skills Over Job Titles, According to Noemi Kis✨

In a recent LinkedIn post, Noemi Kis✨ discusses the often-overlooked distinction between a job title and the intrinsic skills and knowledge an individual acquires throughout their career. Kis✨ argues that fixating on a title can be a precarious strategy, as titles are ultimately bestowed and can be revoked by employers, unlike the enduring value of one’s actual capabilities.

The core of Kis✨’s message revolves around the idea that identity should not be conflated with a job title. “The moment you build your identity on it, you’ve borrowed something that was never yours,” Kis✨ states, highlighting the temporary nature of corporate designations. This perspective is rooted in personal experience, as Kis✨ recounts a past venture:

“In 2019 I raised $300K for a startup. It failed. The title was gone overnight. But everything I learned building it stayed with me.”

This anecdote serves as a powerful illustration of Kis✨’s central thesis: that while a title may vanish, the lessons learned and skills developed during the pursuit of a goal are permanent assets. These are the true, inalienable possessions that contribute to an individual’s long-term professional growth and resilience.

The Perils of Title-Centric Identity

Kis✨ elaborates on the tendency for professionals to invest significant energy in maintaining and protecting their job titles, often at the expense of nurturing their underlying competencies. “We spend years protecting the title. And almost no time noticing everything we’ve become underneath it,” Kis✨ observes. This misplaced focus, according to the post, leads individuals to overlook the substantial personal and professional development that occurs beyond the confines of a formal designation.

Skills as Enduring Assets

The post emphasizes that the most valuable aspects of one’s professional life are not reflected on a business card but are cultivated internally. Kis✨ identifies several key internal assets that are truly owned by an individual:

• The skill to work through a hard problem
• The trust you’ve earned from good people
• The instinct that only comes from doing the work
• The quiet knowing that you could build it all again

These are presented not as fleeting achievements tied to a company or a specific role, but as core attributes that travel with the individual, irrespective of external circumstances. “Those are yours. They go where you go. And no title, no company, no bad season can ever take them back,” Kis✨ asserts.

Shifting Focus from Title to Competency

Kis✨’s message is a call to re-evaluate professional priorities. By de-emphasizing the importance of a job title and instead focusing on the continuous development of skills, the accumulation of experience, and the building of genuine relationships, professionals can cultivate a more robust and unshakeable sense of self-worth and career security. The post suggests that true professional value lies in the tangible abilities and resilience forged through experience, rather than in the labels assigned by an organization.

Ultimately, Kis✨ encourages readers to recognize that their capabilities, learned resilience, and earned trust are their most valuable and permanent professional assets, far outlasting any temporary job title.