Letters After A Name

[James Akcela]

Letters after your name, what do you think?

I have had this discussion with friends and other business owners, the general consensus in my world (management consultancy) it is acceptable... I use BA, MBA and DiPC after my name, the latter being a consultancy focussed masters equivalent.

The feedback I have had are...

- You need it because your industry
- You look like a pretentious prat
- I hate everyone and anyone that does it
- Looks good

What is everyone else's thoughts, just out of interest.

 

[Gordon - Commercial Finance]

Having a degree doesn’t give you the option of putting letters after your name. The letters you can put after your name are those which relate to membership of a professional body. For example I can’t add BA (Hons) to the end just because of my Finance degree, but I for a time was able to put ACSI as I was an Associate if the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investment.




Also it makes you look like a prat.

 

[James Akcela]

Cheers Gordon,

i don't disagree to be honest on the prat thing and appreciate the feedback, just to clarify though and on your point, these post nominal letters are only used in an academic and business setting, not socially. I don't get my bank statements with them on

 

[Gordon - Commercial Finance]

Cheers Gordon,

i don't disagree to be honest on the prat thing and appreciate the feedback, just to clarify though and on your point, these post nominal letters are only used in an academic and business setting, not socially. I don't get my bank statements with them on

Thanks for clarifying, but your academic achievements still don’t allow you to put letters after your name, regardless of the setting.

 

[billybob99]

I know a few letters these sorts can put after their name - if they don't like letters, I can offer emojis.

 

[James Akcela]

Thanks Gordon,

Where you have to outline your qualifications in a regulated industry, such as yours, how do you convey that?

Haha Billybob - as I say, I don't ADORE it, but find it a differentiator in an unregulated market. Interesting to see others views being quite negative thus far.

 

[Gordon - Commercial Finance]

Where you have to outline your qualifications in a regulated industry, such as yours, how do you convey that?

When I worked in banking, it was a requirement of my job to have ACSI, so I had to pay to join the professional body and sit the exams to have the letters after my name.

The industries where you need to “outline your qualifications” in the way you describe are usually medical, and this is usually denoted again by a professional body membership. My brother is a pharmacist, and he has to make sure people know he is qualified to do what he does, but he doesn’t put MPharm after his name, because the degree itself does not signal his authority to practice. It is his Royal Pharmaceutical Society membership that gives him authority to practice.

I don’t have to outline my qualifications in my industry, and nor do you in yours. If I was applying for a job I would put my degree on my CV, but generally no one knows or needs to know that I have a degree in finance.

You can’t put letters after your name, and you don’t need to. Let your knowledge and experience speak for itself.

 

[Gordon - Commercial Finance]

Interesting to see others views being quite negative thus far.

Being the only other poster here, I presume you mean me? I don’t think I’ve been negative, or you must have misunderstood. While my opinion is that it makes you look a prat, the point I’m trying to make is that it doesn’t matter what other people think of it. That is irrelevant because you don’t need to, and you can’t anyway!

 

[James Akcela]

Thank you for taking the time for your input, I appreciate you taking the time to comment on it.

I like the viking website btw. Very nice.

 

[Gordon - Commercial Finance]

I like the viking website btw. Very nice.

Thanks. It was kindly and expertly built by another member of this forum actually so I can’t take any credit whatsoever really.

 

[James Akcela]

Also it makes you look like a prat.

Probably referring to this Gordon, don't worry, I am took no offence, was merely stating this was not a positive view on it.

On the point of post-nominal letters, many universities do now suggest usage and outline ordering - too new to post a link but Cambs, Oxford and Loughborough all do - why if not for use?

However, more pertinently, perhaps I should outline the situational factors, my first post didn't do that very well.

On a website introducing yourself? - I do - all 3
On a business card? - I do, only MBA and DiPC actually.
Emails? None.

I think you have highlighted you don't use it, so obviously don't see it as a differentiator in your field. Perhaps for me it isn't.. who knows?

 

[billybob99]

It's a bit like that episode of Only Fools and Horses where Del Boy gets a new letterhead for the business.

Rodney spots that the business name, Trotters Independent Traders has been abbreviated to TIT and he had DIC after his name, Director In Commerce.

 

[Onthebrightside]

I think it's obviously pertinent on a business card, so politely, if someone gave you their business card, you would write to them the first time mentioning their accreditations.

That being said, I did note in my time working in such industries that those that put letters after their name when writing letters to you were normally newbies or those who had no significant business title, (e.g. those that felt they had to prove they had the relevant qualifications to be there). Those that had either reached a significant position/title, or felt confident about themselves, never did.

 

[Mark T Jones]

I tend to see them as a mark of a novice

when you first get your qualification or accreditation it feels important to let the world know


When you have put it into practice and achieved results the letters become far less inpirtant

 

[billybob99]

I tend to see them as a mark of a novice

when you first get your qualification or accreditation it feels important to let the world know


When you have put it into practice and achieved results the letters become far less inpirtant

Spot on from Mark.

Billybob99 M.B.A. (Hons), CEng FMIET, FCMA, FinTech (Bitcoin), LLB

 

[Newchodge]

You can’t put letters after your name, and you don’t need to.

I'm not sure why you think people cannot put letters after their name. I am BA (Hons) Dunelm. I don't use it because, as you rightly say, it makes you look like a prat. But no-one can stop me using it.

 

[James Akcela]

Thanks for input @Newchodge @billybob99 @Mark T Jones @Onthebrightside - so you wouldn't use them in any setting, not on a card, anything?

 

[fisicx]

Nope.

Many won’t even know what the acronyms mean.

If you are a member of an accredited body put the words on the card but that’s about it.

 

[James Akcela]

Thanks @fisicx - I am just not sure many have heard of that either

 

[fisicx]

Maybe not, but you will only ever be giving your card to warm leads so they will have some idea about what it is you do.

 

[Gordon - Commercial Finance]

I'm not sure why you think people cannot put letters after their name. I am BA (Hons) Dunelm. I don't use it because, as you rightly say, it makes you look like a prat. But no-one can stop me using it.

People can do what they want yes, but a degree doesn’t naturally give you post-nominal letters.

 

[Ian J]

I'm not sure why you think people cannot put letters after their name. I am BA (Hons) Dunelm.

We have a Dunelm near us so I must pop in and buy a few degrees as Christmas presents

 

[Mark T Jones]

Thanks for input @Newchodge @billybob99 @Mark T Jones @Onthebrightside - so you wouldn't use them in any setting, not on a card, anything?

Personally, I put my degree on my card for about 3 years. In my next job I didn't even put a job title.

I wouldn't particularly judge someone on it - as I definitely would if they gave themselves a stupid title - but it wouldn't interest me

 

[Gordon - Commercial Finance]

I have a bronze swimming certificate somewhere which should allow me to use BSc....

 

[Socio South West]

I subscribe to the theory that if you can do it, you do it... If you can't, you teach it or advise others on how it should be done.

Disproportionately in favour of the latter are those who choose to list qualifications and memberships after their name.

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

Letters after your name, what do you think?

I have had this discussion with friends and other business owners, the general consensus in my world (management consultancy) it is acceptable... I use BA, MBA and DiPC after my name, the latter being a consultancy focussed masters equivalent.

The feedback I have had are...

- You need it because your industry
- You look like a pretentious prat
- I hate everyone and anyone that does it
- Looks good

What is everyone else's thoughts, just out of interest.

When sending letters or emails I only use mine for HMRC, another accountant or professional, or someone I don't know or routinely correspond with.

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

I tend to see them as a mark of a novice

when you first get your qualification or accreditation it feels important to let the world know


When you have put it into practice and achieved results the letters become far less inpirtant

Or you get to the point where you start to realise paying huge sums in annual subscriptions to enable you to add letters after your name is really not worth the money

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Professional qualifications then yes
Academic qualifications then no

Academic qualifications are in the past with little or no reference to the present

Professional are the present and show you should be up to date, and although they may require a high standard of education to get awarded, they do not necessarily need a academic qualification, but are judged on ability to undertake the work requirements of that regularity authority

 

[paulears]

The trouble is that these letters only mean something to a few, and to others who don't understand, they seem a little pretentious. When I worked in the education world, I was Principal Examiner for one of the A Levels, and had a big team. The matter of names and letters came up quite a lot, and the accepted unofficial rule was simply that those with a Doctorate would always me Dr Brown, or Dr Smith, and the rest of us would be Mr James or Mrs Green, and a few ms. The only time you'd see letters after their names was when they were members of the various institutions, guilds and charter organisations where membership was the decider - and only when they wrote in official capacity. So somebody complaining or asking for a final decision would have the letters. Anyone signing a general form with Fred Smith PhD always drew a smirk from some truly great academic who only ever signed just their name. The worst example and the cause of many unpleasant Mickey taking sessions were this who signed with MbA after their name, and the joke was they were always ex-teachers, promoted out of teaching (because they were pretty bad at it) and got business Master's Degrees.

 

[NickGrogan]

Qualifications, no. If you really need to then just the highest. If you have an MBA, then it implies you have a degree of some kind.

Professional memberships, yes if highly relevant but not for day to day.

You see some people on LinkedIn with 20 or 30 letters after their name, why?

 

[Gordon - Commercial Finance]

You see some people on LinkedIn with 20 or 30 letters after their name, why?

Because there are a lot of chumps on LinkedIn I guess...

 

[Ian J]

Because there are a lot of chumps on LinkedIn I guess...

Does that include this chap

 

[Gordon - Commercial Finance]

Does that include this chap

Absolutely! What a chump

 

[Paul Norman]

Personally, I would not use letters after my name. It all seems a bit 1983.

However, if you choose to, then I am unlikely to notice either positively or negatively.

 

[Onthebrightside]

Qualifications, no. If you really need to then just the highest. If you have an MBA, then it implies you have a degree of some kind.

Professional memberships, yes if highly relevant but not for day to day.

I agree with this line of thought as I think some companies would prefer it if you had your most recent qualification/memberships on your business card.

 

[SERC1204]

...but a degree doesn’t naturally give you post-nominal letters.

"Traditionally" it does, and Debrett's have specific guidance on where it should be placed in relation to other post nominals. Some universities give specific guidance on how their degrees/awards should be stated as post nominals.

As to when/where/how you use post nominal, it's all down to context - I wouldn't expect a GP or an architect to sign their Christmas cards with letter, but would consider it the norm if they were a partner had them on their headed paper.

I think the other issue is that post-nominal tend to be given out more frequently than they were, diluting the status of having such. When the Health and Care Professions Council updated registration formats/standards, they dropped post nominal in exchange for protected titles, as this was clearer and better understood by the general public.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

It always makes me laugh when ex military officers carry on their rank after leaving the forces especially the lower ranks up to Squadron Leader, Major or Lt Cmdr, these ranks were awarded for time served and not skills, if you joined up as a officer you were guaranteed promotion based upon time served up to these ranks, after that they were selected on performance or at least that was the case in the royal navy

 

[UKSBD]

What I find strange is, I go to hospital, see numerous doctors but the top guy who operated on me is a Mr.

 

[Deleted member 59730]

It always makes me laugh when ex military officers carry on their rank after leaving the forces especially the lower ranks up to Squadron Leader, Major or Lt Cmdr, these ranks were awarded for time served and not skills,

Many, many years ago My father refused to write in a garage appointments book "Captain xxxx xxxx Indian Army (retired). The resulting complaint to the boss left the Captain with nowhere to get his car serviced.

 

[SteveHa]

Or you get to the point where you start to realise paying huge sums in annual subscriptions to enable you to add letters after your name is really not worth the money

Oooh, Nicola, and yet you can be so disparaging sometimes of those of us in the same profession who are not members of a PB.