"Letters after your name". . .Question for HR Professionals

[Anonymous]

Listing your certs and degrees is not "obnoxious" and as previous response said, it is important that people (potential and current clients, networks, partners) that you have this knowledge and expertise. It was a process to get the certs/degrees and in most cases with certs you need to continue to stay educated and practice to keep the credentials.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not an HR professional so forgive me for butting in, but personally I find it annoying and tiring when people list their degrees after their name in email signature lines. I have two advance degrees and save listing them on my resume. I'm an attorney. My business card says so but I don't list "JD" or other degrees after my name. I have definitely noticed that only the most insecure and/or annoying people add this or "esquire" or such to their email signatures.

Ditto.

Another ditto (with a JD and a PhD)

Triple ditto. The rule of thumb should be that you only list the "letters" if a license is required to do your job. If you are a lawyer but you're not practicing then no esq or JD. If you have a PhD but you're working in retail then no PhD.

I know someone has SEVEN certifications listed after his name: Sam Smith, PMP, PgMP, ITIL V3, CISSP, SSGB, MSHI, SSGB

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you. The SPHR is pretty important in HR. (Only 48% of people who sat for the exam passed it last year.) It would definitely be recognized by people in the field.

I never listed by masters degrees because, well, I don't really know why.

You lost me here. This is not brag-worthy. It is worth including if it affects the way you practice.

[Anonymous]

Degrees and certifications should be listed only where relevant. Therefore, you should not list them in your email signature unless you only send professional email that requires alerting your audience of your credentials. If you use your email for other things, like inter-office communication, personal communication, or professional communication not related to your job, then create two signatures, one standard without the info and one professional one that includes your credentials. It is not that hard in most standard mail clients to select an alternate signature file when needed.

So, if this way, if you are coordinating the office holiday party, telling people about snacks in the staff kitchen, sending an email to your child's teacher, or are the POC for your companies software license for Microsoft Office, then a standard signature works fine. When you are sending work pertaining to your HR professional work, you just select the professional signature and it goes out with that instead. This is the professional way to handle it. Those who only use the one signature including all the professional degrees all the time look pretentious and lazy.

[Anonymous]

I work at a U.S. government agency renowned for having some of the smartest and best credentialed people in all of government.

Guess who puts the initials after their name in emails?

Here's a hint: it's not the JDs, PhDs, or MSs from Ivy League schools doing all the heavy lifting policy work, testifying in front of Congress, or traveling the world to present their research or negotiate on behalf of the U.S. government.

It's all the folks in HR and admins with a zillion acronyms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work at a U.S. government agency renowned for having some of the smartest and best credentialed people in all of government.

Guess who puts the initials after their name in emails?

Here's a hint: it's not the JDs, PhDs, or MSs from Ivy League schools doing all the heavy lifting policy work, testifying in front of Congress, or traveling the world to present their research or negotiate on behalf of the U.S. government.

It's all the folks in HR and admins with a zillion acronyms.

Ha. Totally believe it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:HR Professional here. I list GPHR after my name and everyone that I know in HR also lists these (PHR, SPHR, GPHR). I think adding the rest is a bit much. It is relevant to the field and does mean something to those in the profession. Since things are constantly changing it helps to know that you are keeping up with things as it's required to re-cert. Most organizations now require that you have some sort of certification.

HR Professional and SPHR +1

[Anonymous]

HR Business Partner-I have SPHR on my resume, not on signature or business card.

[Anonymous]

I have a PhD and I'd never write my name as "Larla Smith, PhD" on my resume. However, my degrees are listed in the education section.

[Anonymous]

I am a CPA. I use the certification on my resume and business cards. I would add it to my email signature if I was interacting with people outside my org, but I'm mostly internal so I don't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:HR Business Partner-I have SPHR on my resume, not on signature or business card.

+1

[Anonymous]

My card/email sig line (work) is:

Larlo Larlowsky, Ph.D.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My card/email sig line (work) is:

Larlo Larlowsky, Ph.D.

PP here. I used to do it in comic sans to annoy millennials.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Email signature - no.
Business card - the degrees that are directly linked to what you do and might seem useful to people you are dealing with absolutely.

I can't get over my uncle listing his PhD EVERYWHERE. Even when my grandma died and we were all listed in the newspaper article thingy (don't know the english word sorry) he insisted on listing his PhD. He is VERY insecure, very show-off, very slimy so yeah...that's what I connect with people who list degrees in anything that is not connected directly to their work life.

Lol, my dad did this in my moms obituary too. Even in her death he found a way to make it about him...

[Anonymous]

I work with a Joe Smith, MBA. That's entertaining.