# Use of post-nominal letters.



## Shippou-Sensei (Jan 10, 2012)

Having managed to acquire a number of these buggers i'm kinda curious as to when and where I should  use them.

Previously i  never bothered putting my BSc (hons)  on anything as i didn't think it was all that  relivant  but   recently I've  picked up  my PGCE and MifL and am working on QTLS  i'm beginning to wonder if i should start adding these things to business cards and formal letters.

I guess i'm in two minds  because  being in FE  it's not a given that i have these qualifications/memberships and  having them is  something of an advantage.

probably not something i'd put on my email sig though. that seems a little excessive even for the work one.


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## equationgirl (Jan 10, 2012)

Having letters can be useful - I have CEng and PhD on my business cards as they help reinforce my credibility with certain people (those that might dismiss my viewpoint because I'm not a researcher in engineering). I've also found that some organisations actively encourage people to use letters, and some don't.


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## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 10, 2012)

I have a couple of sets of those. I never use them anywhere. I have a business card, they're not even on there.


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## dessiato (Jan 10, 2012)

I don't use any of mine, but might start to this year as it might help me get a job.


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## scifisam (Jan 10, 2012)

MiFL?

Does QTLS count as letters after your name?

I think in your case it would be worthwhile putting them on business cards, if you actually use business cards. I put mine on my TEFL business cards. It's useful info for people then, not pointless boasting.


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## Belushi (Jan 10, 2012)

In a work context, sure.

I've spotted some twats with them as part of their facebook name


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## Maurice Picarda (Jan 10, 2012)

Outside of academia, they are repellent. And if your workplace encourages them you should leave. Telecoms equipment vendors and research consultancies that call their top brass "fellows" are the worst offenders.


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## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 10, 2012)

Maurice Picarda said:


> Outside of academia, they are repellent. And if your workplace encourages them you should leave. Telecoms equipment vendors and research consultancies that call their top brass "fellows" are the worst offenders.




Yeah. I know a person has a PhD, not in medicine etc. They answer the phone 'Dr. .... here.'


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## stuff_it (Jan 10, 2012)

Shippou-Sensei said:


> Having managed to acquire a number of these buggers i'm kinda curious as to when and where I should use them.
> 
> Previously i never bothered putting my BSc (hons) on anything as i didn't think it was all that relivant but recently I've picked up my PGCE and MifL and am working on QTLS i'm beginning to wonder if i should start adding these things to business cards and formal letters.
> 
> ...


I definitely think you should put MILF in your email signature.


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## Puddy_Tat (Jan 10, 2012)

would depend what the norm is in your line of business, really.

personal take on it -

some qualifications entitle you to "post-nominals" (woo) some don't - making up post-nominals for things that don't really have them makes someone look a bit of a nit in almost any circumstances.

use thereof -

on a CV - yes, definitely

on a business card - yes, probably

signing a work letter / e-mail - questionable.  if it's standard house style, go with it, if not, don't as it makes you look like an insecure tosser

outside the work / academic environment - no.

there's also probably an established protocol for what order you should put multiple postnominals in, and getting it wrong will count against you.

and I'm pretty sure it's wrong to put "esq" after any postnominals in any circumstances.  (does anyone still use "esq" anyway?

that having been said, i sometimes regret not going into civil engineering.  "Puddy Tat MICE" would be good...


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## Shippou-Sensei (Jan 10, 2012)

scifisam said:


> MiFL?
> 
> Does QTLS count as letters after your name?
> 
> I think in your case it would be worthwhile putting them on business cards, if you actually use business cards. I put mine on my TEFL business cards. It's useful info for people then, not pointless boasting.



MIfL = Member of the Institute for Learning.

QTS  counts so I assume QTLS  either counts or will count.

i was also considering using it  when  doing  more formal contact   with other academic institutions  as a shorthand   indicator  of  what i do   as  i don't really  have a job title in my college


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## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 10, 2012)

I think if you're looking for a job, your cv has your academic background on it.

SS: is MIFL well-known; imo the more obscure the acronym, the worse it looks.

I notice that accountants and insurance people almost always have their letters, seems the standard practice in their business. Same with nurses.


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## Puddy_Tat (Jan 10, 2012)

Shippou-Sensei said:


> MIfL = Member of the Institute for Learning.



Depends if they advise people to use it as a post-nominal, and also whether it is the sort you get to use just by virtue of paying the membership fee or whether you qualify for it in some way.  Some people look down on the former.

My own professional institute never used to have an "ordinary member" post-nominal, but following a merger there is now a post-nominal that simply means you've paid the membership fee.  This now means some people don't know whether mine (chartered status, following passing exams) means any more than that I have paid the membership fee.  Which is kinda


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## catinthehat (Jan 10, 2012)

My informal observations of their use in FE is that the least qualified are the most likely to use them.  If its related to job applications your quals will be on your CV.


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## Shippou-Sensei (Jan 10, 2012)

to get membership status in the ifl   you have to hold relevant qualifications    and  submit  yearly CPD*

previously i was an  Affiliate  i got upgraded  when i passed my PGCE.

Affiliates  don't  get any  letters

there is also  associate  status if  you have  a lesser  educational qualification   they get AIfL

* evidence of continuous professional development


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## Shippou-Sensei (Jan 10, 2012)

stuff_it said:


> I definitely think you should put MILF in your email signature.



i'm not sure i have the right qualifications for that particular post nominal


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## StoneRoad (Jan 10, 2012)

I agree with Puddy Tat (haha, good one - I'll give you MICE - but some of the Electrical ones are worse!)
over the general use of/for post-nominals, but in consulting engineering (the heavy sort!) some people are very particular about their qualifications - and getting them in the right order....

Having a peer reviewed qual / charter can make a lot of difference as to the level of respect you get, especially if the critic is from a slightly different speciality.....

Sometimes I'll put my 'alphabet soup' on an official letter, doing so can make some people take more note of your position/complaint/suggestion


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## spanglechick (Jan 11, 2012)

i've never seen QTS (or PGCE, for that matter) after anyone's name, but granted that's in secondary.

i was told it's a faux pas, and i wouldn't do it myself.  It'll be in your cv / job applications, who else needs to know?


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## ViolentPanda (Jan 11, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> I think if you're looking for a job, your cv has your academic background on it.
> 
> SS: is MIFL well-known; imo the more obscure the acronym, the worse it looks.
> 
> I notice that accountants and insurance people almost always have their letters, seems the standard practice in their business. Same with nurses.



For accountants, their membership of a specific org is usually required as the org is the licencing authority for the profession.


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## ViolentPanda (Jan 11, 2012)

I almost never include my post-nominals. I even still feel embarrassed when I get a piece of begging mail from my _alma mater_ that uses them.


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## ViolentPanda (Jan 11, 2012)

StoneRoad said:


> Sometimes I'll put my 'alphabet soup' on an official letter, doing so can make some people take more note of your position/complaint/suggestion



That's about the only time I use mine, to be honest.


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## DotCommunist (Jan 11, 2012)

I sometimes use Fr even tho I am not a priest


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## TruXta (Jan 11, 2012)

The day I get my PhD I'll be sure to use it every time I book a flight in the hopes of getting bumped to bizniz class. If there's a medical emergency I'll offer to ethnomethodologically analyse the contesting discourses of panic, anger and fear arising in times of trouble.


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## Corax (Jan 11, 2012)

I use BSC and Prof Psych.  Bronze Swimming Certificate & Cycling Proficiency.


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## Fozzie Bear (Jan 11, 2012)

I think post nominals related to membership of a professional body are fine. Qualfications less so.

It really depends what everyone else does in your field? Find someone half sensible and copy what they do


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## dylanredefined (Jan 11, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Yeah. I know a person has a PhD, not in medicine etc. They answer the phone 'Dr. .... here.'


  Worked for one who ran a nursing home only found out from others he wasn't a real doctor.
I was a nurse, real doctor is a medical one IMHO .Other phds can be doctors of whatever and are very clever and have worked hard to acheive it can't write a prescription for my patients though.


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## Hocus Eye. (Jan 11, 2012)

I knew a girl who had a bronze swimming certificate. She proudly took it with her next time she went swimming. A pity she hung it around her neck, the weight of it dragged her to the bottom. Heavy stuff bronze.



Probably


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## Corax (Jan 11, 2012)

I almost 'liked' that.  But the overwhelming urge to slap you won out.


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## Wolveryeti (Jan 11, 2012)

The saddest are the nameplates outside schools where the Head teacher puts 'BEd' after their name. Wow - it's an _honours_ degree.


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## marty21 (Jan 11, 2012)

ViolentPanda said:


> I almost never include my post-nominals. I even still feel embarrassed when I get a piece of begging mail from my _alma mater_ that uses them.


This ^^^

Didn't actually realise they were called this 

Mrs21 used to get letters from her mum, addressed to Mrs21 MA


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## spanglechick (Jan 11, 2012)

Wolveryeti said:


> The saddest are the nameplates outside schools where the Head teacher puts 'BEd' after their name. Wow - it's an _honours_ degree.


it's a convention for those signs and school letterheads too. don't know of any heads from memory that don't have a masters too, though. certainly it'd be pretty rare these days.


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## Pickman's model (Jan 11, 2012)

TruXta said:


> The day I get my PhD I'll be sure to use it every time I book a flight in the hopes of getting bumped to bizniz class. If there's a medical emergency I'll offer to ethnomethodologically analyse the contesting discourses of panic, anger and fear arising in times of trouble.


won't work: medical doctors have eg MD after their names


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## StoneRoad (Jan 11, 2012)

I was away from home when my degree results came out, so my mum send a cable to me, saying congrats, but added the BSc to my name - I very carefully kept that.....and when I told her I had passed the post-grad course a couple of years later, she was in hospital and has the whole ward on tenterhooks to find out my result....I heard the cheer down the 'phone! and the ward sister told me "brill news" from everybody on the ward, not just me mum. Sadly she died a few weeks later, so she never saw me get my chartered status.


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## Badgers (Jan 11, 2012)

Any easy way of getting them? Without hard work and minimal expenditure?


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## equationgirl (Jan 11, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Yeah. I know a person has a PhD, not in medicine etc. They answer the phone 'Dr. .... here.'


I have a PhD, but I don't do that. Bit wanky.


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## equationgirl (Jan 11, 2012)

Badgers said:


> Any easy way of getting them? Without hard work and minimal expenditure?



There's degree certificate generators on the internet for free, but I'm not sure if you can really use the letters...


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## Badgers (Jan 11, 2012)

equationgirl said:
			
		

> There's degree certificate generators on the internet for free, but I'm not sure if you can really use the letters...



Oppression


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## equationgirl (Jan 11, 2012)

Badgers said:


> Oppression


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## Shippou-Sensei (Jan 11, 2012)

spanglechick said:


> i've never seen QTS (or PGCE, for that matter) after anyone's name, but granted that's in secondary.
> 
> i was told it's a faux pas, and i wouldn't do it myself. It'll be in your cv / job applications, who else needs to know?



given that  QTS is required  for  compulsory education  it's slightly diffrent.  being a teacher  is  in itself evidence  of  having these qualifications

in FE this isn't true.

plus it's often not  obvious  that i do hold a teaching position at my place of work   as a lot of the time i'm not actually teaching  but  doing administrative  and  developmental work so i felt  it might  do useful to include  these as a way of letting people understand my position in the college a bit better.


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## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 11, 2012)

Shippou-Sensei said:


> given that QTS is required for compulsory education it's slightly diffrent. being a teacher is in itself evidence of having these qualifications
> 
> in FE this isn't true.
> 
> plus it's often not obvious that i do hold a teaching position at my place of work as a lot of the time i'm not actually teaching but doing administrative and developmental work so i felt it might do useful to include these as a way of letting people understand my position in the college a bit better.



I think you should start wearing french-cut sleeves, and get a pair of cufflinks with the post-nominals spelled out in gold.


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