multicolumn in titlepage with titling package

Question

I want to use the multicolumn command in the author environment, but it creates the error

incomplete }iffalse, all text was ignored after line x

\documentclass[12pt,a4paper,ngerman]{article}
\usepackage{titling}   
\title{Bewerbung \"Okonom mit \"okonometrischen Kenntnissen}
\author{\multicolumn{2}{c}{Jon Doe} \\
Two words &  two words }
\begin{document}
    \preauthor{\begin{center}
    \large \begin{tabular}{ll}}
    \postauthor{ \end{tabular} \end{center}}
\maketitle
\end{document}

Answer 1

Yes, you don't need titling. Just put the tabular inside the \author command:

\documentclass[12pt,a4paper]{article}
\title{Bewerbung \"Okonom mit \"okonometrischen Kenntnissen}
\author{%
\begin{tabular}{ll}
\multicolumn{2}{c}{Jon Doe} \\
Two words &  two words
\end{tabular}
}
\begin{document}
\maketitle
\end{document}

Answer 2

The standard title done by article or any other class is limited, as it provides a fixed output. A template if you will. Customizing a template is often more work than quickly putting the boxes on the page by ineself.

The following is the standard article title with your needs, easily customizable.

\documentclass[12pt,a4paper]{article}
\usepackage{showframe}  
\begin{document}
\vspace*{-2.5cm}% JB: You wanted some extra negative space
\begin{center}%
    {\LARGE Bewerbung \"Okonom mit \"okonometrischen Kenntnissen \par}%
    \vspace{1.5em}%
    {\large
        \begin{tabular}{ll}
            \multicolumn{2}{c}{Jon Doe} \\
            Two words &  two words
        \end{tabular}
    \par}
    \vspace{1em}%
    {\large \today}%
\end{center}%
\par
\vspace{1.5em}
Economics don't need wombats.
\end{document}