Describe your job in 3 words

Saw a funny meme on my social media feed the other day about bullshit jobs:

If you can’t describe your job in 3 words, you have a bullshit job.

❌ “I’m a SaaS-based fintech sales analyst.”
❌ “I develop and maintain automated capabilities.”
❌ “I create systems to record blockchain data.”

✅ “I catch fish.”

It’s just a joke, but I thought there’s a degree of elegance in the way we can describe jobs that had been around for centuries, versus more recent, modern jobs. Job descriptions for fishermen (“I catch fish”), bakers (“I bake bread.”), doctors (“I save lives.”), cooks (“I cook food.”) just sound so simple and elegant.

But back centuries ago, when these jobs just came into existence, would they have described it so simply? I wonder the same for our modern day jobs. Perhaps it’s time to try. “Describe your job in 3 words” is a also great exercise to get some clarity on what exactly do I do.

The format is this:

“I <verb> <noun/object>.”

Verb can be any action words like make, create, develop, craft, bake, fish, cook, write.

Nouns can be any object, event, feature, benefit or thing that you deliver or sell as part of your job.

For me, I’m a creator, indie hacker, solopreneur. I create products and services for others. Mostly creators and other knowledge workers who work mostly on the internet. I make tools that are useful and help people be more productive, happier, or healthier. I sometimes collaborate with others, but work mostly on my own. I earn money from the internet.

So what is all that in 3 words?

For me, what stood out were “creator”, “create”, “help”, “tools”, “productive”. So how about:

I create tools.

What do you think? How would you describe your job in 3 words?