The 20 Stickiest Job Titles: Monster Workforce Mobility Report (Volume 1)

People often measure career progress through job titles. An assistant becomes a manager. A junior employee becomes a senior one. But a new job with the same title can still be a significant career move.

Someone may continue doing similar work while pursuing better pay, stronger benefits, a more manageable schedule, greater stability, or a healthier work environment. Career mobility isn’t always visible from the title alone.

To create Volume 1 of Monster’s Workforce Mobility Report, Monster analyzed resume data covering nearly 1 million (990,922) position changes across 20 high-volume roles. Monster recorded a position change when a resume showed a change in employer, job title, or both over time, then measured how often workers moved to a new employer while keeping the exact same recorded title to identify the “stickiest” job titles. The analysis measures position changes, not unique workers.

Key Findings

What Is a “Sticky” Job Title?

A sticky job title is one where a high percentage of people who move into the role previously held a position with the exact same recorded title.

For example, 72% of observed transitions into CNA positions came from another position recorded as “certified nursing assistant.” In other words, the employer changed, but the recorded job title stayed the same.

A sticky title doesn’t indicate how long someone stayed with an employer. It measures title continuity when people changed positions. It also doesn’t mean that two jobs with the same title were identical. 

A cashier position at one employer may differ significantly from a cashier position somewhere else in pay, hours, workload, management, responsibilities, or advancement potential.

The 20 Stickiest Job Titles

Certified nursing assistants, medical assistants, and bartenders are the three stickiest job titles, with the highest rates of same-title transitions.

Here’s the full ranking:

Rank	Destination Job Title	Same-Title Transitions	Same-Title Rate
1	Certified Nursing Assistant	30,167	72%
2	Medical Assistant	21,575	71%
3	Bartender	21,772	70%
4	Server	48,952	67%
5	Crew Member	38,682	66%
6	Cashier	63,322	66%
7	Administration Assistant	18,342	64%
8	Customer Service Representative	40,821	63%
9	Security Officer	18,986	63%
10	Barista	16,738	63%
11	Manager	53,970	62%
12	Team Member	24,252	62%
13	Laborer	16,865	62%
14	Sales	50,312	61%
15	Receptionist	22,281	60%
16	Cook	18,783	60%
17	Warehouse Associate	21,938	58%
18	Driver	23,624	56%
19	Caregiver	28,022	56%
20	Delivery Driver	41,009	55%

Note: Rankings are based on unrounded rates. Displayed percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number. Job titles are presented as recorded in the source data.

Healthcare & Hospitality Titles Were Especially Sticky

Healthcare and hospitality had some of the highest same-title rates in Monster’s analysis.

Healthcare 

Certified nursing assistant and medical assistant ranked first and second, respectively. Of 42,126 transitions into CNA positions, 30,167 came from the exact same recorded title. For medical assistants, 21,575 of 30,245 transitions were same-title moves.

Both roles typically involve specialized training, credentials, or experience that workers can carry between employers, which may contribute to title stickiness. 

Note: Monster’s analysis did not examine why these titles had high same-title rates, so this is a possible explanation rather than a finding of the report.

Hospitality

Hospitality roles also appeared throughout the ranking, with five titles retaining the same recorded title in at least 60% of transitions:

These same-title moves can still involve meaningful differences between workplaces. For bartenders and servers, for example, changing employers may mean different customer volume, tips, hours, staffing, or management, even without a title change.

Why a Same-Title Move Can Still Be Progress

A new title is only one possible form of career growth. A same-title move can improve other aspects of a job, such as:

Note: Monster’s analysis didn’t measure these factors, so they shouldn’t be interpreted as reasons the workers studied changed employers.

How to Evaluate a Same-Title Job Offer

When considering a job offer with the same title you already hold, look beyond the title to determine what the move could actually change.

Compare the pay, benefits, schedule, responsibilities, working conditions, and opportunities for growth by asking questions like:

• How does the total compensation compare?
• Are the hours guaranteed and predictable?
• When does benefits eligibility begin?
• What is the expected workload?
• Why is the position open?
• How is performance evaluated?
• How often are compensation reviews conducted?
• What training is available?
• How have others in the role advanced?
• How long do employees typically stay?
• Will the move improve the commute or schedule?
• What responsibilities or authority come with the position?

How to Show Growth When the Title Repeats

If you have the same job title at multiple companies on your resume, you can still show career growth by highlighting what changed from one role to the next. 

Focus on:

What the Stickiest Job Titles Reveal About Career Mobility

Every role in Monster’s analysis retained the same title in more than half of observed transitions, but career progress isn’t always visible through a title. Pay, benefits, schedules, working conditions, responsibilities, and advancement opportunities can all improve from one employer to the next.

When considering a new opportunity, ask: “Will this job improve my compensation, stability, working conditions, or future opportunities?” If so, a same-title move can still represent meaningful career progress.

Volume 2 of Monster’s Workforce Mobility Report will expand this picture by examining how workers move between different job titles.

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For press inquiries, please contact Shanna Briggs at shanna.briggs@bold.com.

About the Monster Workforce Mobility Report

The Monster Workforce Mobility Report is a two-volume analysis of how workers move among employers and job titles. Volume 1 examines moves that retained the same recorded title, while Volume 2 will examine movement between different titles.

Methodology

Monster analyzed resume data covering 990,922 position changes recorded from January through July 2026 and ending in the 20 highest-volume destination job titles available in the dataset.

Resumes were tracked over time, producing “from” and “to” values for job title, employer, and location. A change in job title, employer, or both counted as a position change. Because a single resume or individual could contribute multiple transitions, the unit of analysis was position changes, not unique workers.

Same-title transitions required an exact match between the prior and destination job titles. Similar or equivalent occupations with differently recorded titles were counted as different.

The 990,922 position changes represent transitions ending in the 20 roles analyzed, not all position changes captured in the dataset. Because additional destination-title data were unavailable, the results should not be generalized to all job titles, position changes, or the broader U.S. workforce.

About Monster

Monster is a global leader in online job searching, resume building, and employment solutions. For over 30 years, the company has been a trusted authority for both job seekers and companies. Beyond the job search, Monster provides an intuitive Resume Builder and hundreds of resume templates to help candidates stand out against the competition, while offering employers a comprehensive resume database to source top talent. As a G2 category leader, Monster has been featured in Forbes, CNBC, CNN, and USA Today, sharing the career advice needed to bridge the gap between job seekers and hiring managers.