Oddly enough, a few things come into play:
1. It's hard to describe what you do, to someone who doesn't understand what you do.
2. This isn't a new problem.
3. There are actually fewer official U.S. Census occupation codes today (545 as of the 2000 census) than in 1920 (587). Much of that explosion had to do with railroads.
I did some research on this a few years back.
https://www.reddit.com/r/dredmorbius/comments/3832wx/occupat...
The Iron Horse gave us such classifications as:
* Baggagemen and freight agents
* Motormen
* Switchmen, flagmen, and yardmen
* Express, post, telegraph, and telephone, selected occupations
* Express messengers
* Inspectors
Or we could turn, as The Conversation hails from Britain, to the UK Census classifications of 1851, 1861, and 1871, for: joiner, beermaker, gamekeeper (this sounds suspiciously SV, probably growth-hacking on the side), worsted manufacturer (but no "bested manufacturer"), hose manufacturer ("laying pipe..."), hawker, huckster, jockey, straw hat and bonnet maker (don't confuse your boots and bonnets), protestant dissenting minister, ropermaker (in cahoots with the hoseist, we surmise), staymaker (someone who stickifies the gamekeepers gamified websites, obviously), currier (but no ives), wine and spirit merchant (good, not evil, spirts, one hopes), boilermaker, Chelsea pensioner, commercial traveller (ads delivery and reach?), and weaver not otherwise described.
And, ah, yes, to the pedants, I'm aware of the original contexts of these descriptions.
The point is that, especially at times of dynamic change and specialisation, new distinctions become important.
Overblown? In cases, yes. The value of jobs titles is both for internal and external communications and comparison, as with most protocols.
"Astro" Teller, by the way, is the grandson of a gentleman who's known for a few particularly bright points in mid-20th century history, of which there's some residual glow.
Speaking of which, my favourite jobs title remains that from the 1880 U.S. Census classification, #309, "Gentleman".