Is your job title self-explanatory or do you need to explain what your responsibilities are?

One of my clients, who works in the sales department of his company, wasn’t sure how to introduce himself at an upcoming conference. The problem was that he isn’t a sales representative because he also manages a small team of people, but he isn’t technically a sales manager either. He didn’t think his job title as Sales Leader was very clear, so we worked with the following 5 phrases so he could describe his roles and responsibilities instead of using his job title.

Here are five phrases you can use to describe your responsibilities: (click on each word to hear the pronunciation)

1. be in charge of = to be the person who has control of or is responsible for someone or something

You can be in charge of people or a team of people:

I’m in charge of the marketing team.

You can also be in charge of a task or a department.

I’m in charge of foreign accounts.

She’s in charge of the engineering department.

If you use a verb after the phrase be sure to put it in -ing form:

The team leader is in charge of securing funding for the project.

2. be responsible for=have an obligation to do something, or having control over or care for someone, as part of one’s job or role.

This phrase is very similar to “be in charge of” but most often refers to tasks or departments you have control over.

Michael was responsible for product development but now he works in sales.

Remember to use verb +ing after “be responsible for”:

Jane is responsible for tracking sales.

3. deal with= to take action in order to achieve something or to solve a problem

Use “deal with” to refer to the tasks your job involves the most. For example, if you work in customer service you can say:

I deal with customer questions and requests.

If you work in human resources (HR) you could use “deal with” to describe your responsibilities:

I deal with employee recruitment, professional development and conflict resolution.

Again, because this phrase includes a preposition (“with”) we must use the verb+ing form if we want to use a verb:

She deals with processing orders.

4. to oversee=to supervise

“To oversee” comes from the very literal idea of a supervisor standing over his employees to see they are doing their work correctly.

We can oversee people or a task.

José oversees a team of ten engineers.

We oversee all the foreign accounts for our company.

5. to handle = to manage

Use “handle” to talk about tasks you deal with or manage, but not to talk about people.

She handles daily operations.

We’ll handle social media marketing for the project.

Are you ready to test what you know?

Complete the quiz using the words in the gaps. Write the words in the correct form.

1. I ___ with the new employee onboarding process.
2. Ruth is __________ of training and professional development.
3. You’ll be _______ for making sure all our customers feel at home in our hotel.
4. The sales manager ______ the entire sales teams to ensure they’re meeting their targets.
5. Who _____ client communications?

Answers

1. I DEAL with the new employee onboarding process.
2. Ruth is IN CHARGE of training and professional development.
3. You’ll be RESPONSIBLE for making sure all our customers feel at home in our hotel.
4. The sales manager OVERSEES the entire sales teams to ensure they’re meeting their targets.
5. Who HANDLES client communications?