When is it appropriate to use post-nominal letters, such as degrees, in a professonal setting?

Question

While there is a bit of a cultural distinction to be made as the treatment of post-nominal letters (e.g. Honorifics such as OBE, Esq., or Ph.D.; or licensure credentials such as PE), what are some general rules that should apply for the use? Likewise, when working in an international environment, should their use be adjusted based upon who you are addressing (i.e. some writing from the United States to someone in the United Kingdom) or should you default to using the local standards?

Answer 1

The phrase you are looking for is forms of address, and there is a huge amount of information on the subject. The sheer amount of information points to the fact that the correct form varies from honorific to honorific, country to country and setting to setting.

The best I can do is point you at some references:

1. http://www.debretts.co.uk/forms-of-address/hierarchies/letters-after-the-name.aspx
2. http://www.formsofaddress.info/post_nominals.html
3. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Titles-Forms-Address-Guide-Correct/dp/0713683252

Answer 2

Turns out that this is actually quite the complicated field and that there is also quite a bit of difference between how things are treated in the United States and the United Kingdom so this answer will focus on the United States usage.

With regards to the order of post-nominal letters the standard order in the United States is as follows:

1. Religious orders
2. Theological degrees
3. Academic degrees - Which should be listed in ascending order if there are multiple degree is different fields. Thus, someone with a PhD would not list all of their preceding degrees if they are all in the same field, but if they were to earn an MBA they would list it as [Name], MBA, PhD. Also, holders of a PhD should not introduce themselves as doctor as a matter of course, the only appropriate use is by holders of a MD in a professional setting.
4. Honorary degrees, honors, decorations - Of which honorary doctoral degrees would be listed and which also do not confer any sort of courtesy title such as "Doctor".
5. Professional licenses, certifications and affiliations - For which if there are multiple then they should be listed in alphabetic order.
6. Retired uniformed service

With regards to what should actually appear, it depends upon the environment involved and the actual context. Generally it is only appropriate to the academic degrees if it is directly relevant to the context which is why generally they only see heavy usage in academic environments or in the medical profession. Likewise, professional licenses and the like would only be listed if they are relevant to the environment (i.e.a CPA should not include it if they are working for a software company as a developer) and should be added or dropped from correspondence as needed. Thus, the usual rule of thumb in the United States it that less is better and in most cases they are dropped completely from anything less than very formal correspondence.

Answer 3

I have on my business card:

Kate Gregory, P.Eng, Ph.D

I list them in the order I earned them. I don't normally include them in resumes or bios, though there are times I do, when I feel they'll be relevant, such as when contributing to a bid on a project involving engineering (and therefore rich in engineers, who will think better of me for being one of them) even though I'll be doing software design. I don't normally include them on the "About Me" slide (if I even have one) in presentations I give, but I do for the course I teach at the local university, where having a doctorate is relevant.

I never introduce myself as Dr Gregory, and only answer to it when it's ironic from friends, or at the aforementioned university. I don't include an email signature at all, but I do encourage my staff to mention PMP and related qualifications in their signatures. To me the key is relevance. It has to be on-topic to tell someone your qualification. If not (say you're writing to your fellow pre-school parents) it just looks like showing off.

Answer 4

Three Primary Places.

• On Your Resume
• In your Email Signature
• On your Business Cards

Also other places that officially identifies you such formal letterhead\ stationary that you have or a Name plaque on your desk.

Answer 5

I always thought that you are supposed to use titles, such as M.D., Phd, MBA, CPA only if they fit with the job title that you are working in. I think that if a college professor does have a Phd in the field that he is teaching, it is appropriate to us the title Dr. I am not sure how the rule of thumb applies to High Schools and Elementary Schools. I have seen principals use the title Dr. because they have a Phd, hopefully in education. On the other hand two high school teachers that I knew both had doctorates, and they did not refer to themselves as Dr. So, I think that it may be appropriate if teaching in a college or university but not middle or grade school.

I work at a university in accounting, and in e-mails I always see people plastering their titles, from Phd, to M.D., MBA, you name it. From what I could tell by their job titles, and their certifications, they are probably being pretentious because most of the time, those titles don't fit with their job titles.