Thanks for your question. You should not make up new job titles or numbers that dishonestly represent you. However, many job titles that are officially bestowed on people also dishonestly (or inaccurately) represent someone’s job. A hiring manager wants to know what you actually contributed in the past — that’s the useful information — so if an old job title doesn’t represent your contribution accurately, then it’s not serving either of you.

Lying on a resume is not a crime, but it’s very bad for both employer and employee, and that’s why “always be honest” is one of my rules.