What Is the Proper Way of Using Degree Abbreviations?

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I have been going through this question a number of times myself. It seems like this is a hot-button-issue in the business world among people who want to express what they earned and are qualified for and others who suggest aggressively that you should lose all the letters after your name. And when I say “aggressively,” I really mean it literally. When I went through some articles to find out how to use degree abbreviations, I have seen expressions like, “stop playing scrabble games with your name,” or “no one is impressed with those letters.” Ouch!

Earning a degree is a lot of work, time and money. I know you worked very hard to earn those degrees and letters. Yes, it is a fact that using your degree abbreviations after your name all the time is absurd AND annoying. There is a place and time for this. Well… don't lose those letters all at once regardless of what others suggest. Just do it properly. I too have wanted to find out what to do with my degree letters and gone through a good search myself. I am going to share my findings with you here, which will cover just the basics on how to use degree abbreviations properly.

- First of all, you are not supposed to use degree abbreviations for personal purposes, i.e. within your personal e-mails, any situations where you are not professionally involved.

Look at this now:

"Dear John,

Hope you are enjoying your vacation in Italy. My mom, my dad and I miss you so much. Don't forget to send us a nice postcard from Rome. Take a lot of pictures and say hi to Aunt Veronica.

Love,

Mary Brown, B.A., M.Ed."

See how ridiculous this is! 😊 Of course I am just kidding, but this is pretty much the point here. Never put those letters within your personal e-mails.

- Generally, using degree abbreviations on business cards or resumes/CVs is not recommended, unless it is required so by the nature of your job, like if you are an attorney or a doctor.

- If you have a doctorate degree, be careful when using those letters. You can either use Ph.D. at the end of your name or Dr. at the beginning of your name, BUT you cannot use both. 

Dr. John Brown, Ph.D. --> This is wrong.

Either Dr. John Brown OR John Brown, Ph.D. is the correct way 

- If you are confused about whether or not you should use your degree letters at work, just take a look around and see what others do. I wouldn't recommend using your degree letters if no one else does so. You don't want to stick out and look like you have a huge ego.

- Use caution when using your degree abbreviations with your e-mail signature. I would suggest creating two signatures; one for the internal correspondences and one for the external ones. Your co-workers don't need to see that you have a master's degree every time you send out an e-mail to them, for example. However, if you are dealing with a customer or a potential business partner, for example, by all means go for it if your expertise and qualifications are subject to the matter. Then you definitely want to show them that they are dealing with someone who is a professional and has the required education by the job or title. That being said, your degree abbreviations may not mean the same in other countries as they do in the United States. You may want to take this part under consideration if you are dealing with overseas for your job. Once, I had to deal with a global company’s customer service, which I had found out later that it was located in Spain. When they responded to my e-mail, it started with “Dear Ms. Hilal Ulusan, M.Ed.” They probably had thought that “M.Ed.” was a part of my name. 

Briefly, my humble suggestion would be to use your common sense about when and where to place your degree abbreviations. The professional world can get cruel. You may easily get disliked by others just because you seem like you are Mr./Mrs. Big Shot with an ego to them, but in reality all you were doing might be trying to figure out the appropriate way of doing this. Do what you do without your degree abbreviations at first while observing what is going on around you. The only platform I use my master's degree abbreviations is LinkedIn, for example, and that is only because it is the platform of professionals. I never put my degree letters on my resume and the resume experts who had validated my resume never suggested so.

I hope this article comes handy to you. If there is something else you would like to add, you know what to do! ;-) Just leave a comment below. 

Check out The Most Irritating Things Happening at Workplaces. It is fun to read. 😎

My blog has no boundaries. I share any information I find and topics on daily life. Stay tuned for more. See you next time. 

DISCLAIMER: I am simply sharing the information that I found on the Internet for my own personal purposes. I am not an expert on this topic.