Do you put your designation(s) on your business card?

[ptxpress]

I'm curious to see whether people put their designations on their business card. My first job out of grad school I put it on my card, but the further I get along in my career the less inclined I am to do so.

I am dual designated and I sometimes feel like putting designations on a card is just forcing it down the throats of others. Everyone nowadays has at least a designation or 2, so what's the point, really? I would rather let my skills do the talking.

At the same time, friends have argued with me that it is simply a way of setting a baseline with people you interact with so that they know to take you seriously, etc. I never quite bought this argument, but to each their own.

So...do you put your designation(s) on your card? Why? Why not?

[drey2k]

What designations do you have?

I would definitely put a designation on a business card if I had one. I put "B.Comm" beside my name on a business card, so does the President of the company I work for ( I copied it from him ).

[7jai]

I'm curious to see whether people put their designations on their business card. My first job out of grad school I put it on my card, but the further I get along in my career the less inclined I am to do so.

I am dual designated and I sometimes feel like putting designations on a card is just forcing it down the throats of others. Everyone nowadays has at least a designation or 2, so what's the point, really? I would rather let my skills do the talking.

At the same time, friends have argued with me that it is simply a way of setting a baseline with people you interact with so that they know to take you seriously, etc. I never quite bought this argument, but to each their own.

So...do you put your designation(s) on your card? Why? Why not?

It depends on the company you work for, and the audience you are targeting.

IMO, I would put down professional designations (ie: CA, CMA, CGA, CFA) - I would even consider putting down a MA, MBA, PhD, etc...

If its undergraduate degrees, I don't even bother. That's a dime a dozen.

[texedomel]

It depends on the company you work for, and the audience you are targeting.

IMO, I would put down professional designations (ie: CA, CMA, CGA, CFA) - I would even consider putting down a MA, MBA, PhD, etc...

If its undergraduate degrees, I don't even bother. That's a dime a dozen.

+1, that's what I would do as well. Undergrad degrees are the new high school diploma these days so I won't even bother.

[THINKPADT61]

It depends on the company you work for, and the audience you are targeting.

IMO, I would put down professional designations (ie: CA, CMA, CGA, CFA) - I would even consider putting down a MA, MBA, PhD, etc...

If its undergraduate degrees, I don't even bother. That's a dime a dozen.

I agree, everyone I know have a bachelor degree at the very last... And rarely do people put bachelor degree on business card... As least from what I have seen so far...

The one designation I have on the card is my EIT.

[Redguard]

I would put a professional designation on my card. I would not put my bachelor's degree.

[tylaw83]

I think it's pretty important to determine whether it adds to people's belief of your professional competence + ethics when they first meet you.

A bachelor's degree rarely says anything except that you were smart enough to get through university (tons of people are). It says nothing about your ability to apply what you learned to benefit the client or your company.

A P.Eng, for example, indicates that you have experience + a professional code of ethics to follow.

I agree, everyone I know have a bachelor degree at the very last... And rarely do people put bachelor degree on business card... As least from what I have seen so far...

The one designation I have on the card is my EIT.

Is it common for people to put EIT on their business cards? I'm just wondering about the logic of this. An EIT isn't really even a designation. All it says is that you have an engineering degree and you passed an entrance exam. How is putting EIT any different from putting B.A.Sc./B.Eng. on your card?

[Aristophanes]

It depends on the company you work for, and the audience you are targeting.

IMO, I would put down professional designations (ie: CA, CMA, CGA, CFA) - I would even consider putting down a MA, MBA, PhD, etc...

If its undergraduate degrees, I don't even bother. That's a dime a dozen.

A lot of MBAs I know don't put down their designation.

Degrees:
Doctorates - always
Masters - never except for professional (MPharm) or natural sciences (MSc)
Bachelors - never except for professional (BPharm)

Professional designation:
Always
Then again....it's subjective what is considered one and what isn't...

Hence, I never bothered putting down my MBA. No one cares if you have one or not.

[nalababe]

In our company, it is rare to put down any non-professional designations. The exceptions would be Ph.D. and MBA, though it does depend on the role you play within the company.

[Redguard]

So.... what if you have 7 designations? Is it in poor taste to put ALL OF THEM behind your name?

One example that comes to mind is this guy David Debenham (or... David Debenham, LLB, LLM, MBA, CMA, CFI, CFE, DIFA). He always has an ad running in the CMA Management magazine.

http://www.langmichener.ca/index.cfm...Detail&id=9615

[fly]

So.... what if you have 7 designations? Is it in poor taste to put ALL OF THEM behind your name?

I started dropping the irrelevant ones after I left IT..

B.Comm, MBA, PMP, SSBB, CATE, CSA, MCP

down to MBA, PMP, SSBB

Partially also because it looks tacky and doesn't look right on my business card when my full name is shorter then the list of designations.

I don't have my designations in my email signature, just business cards. Figure it's a good ice breaker if there are other fellow PMP, MBA, or SSBBs in the room.

[mork]

I think it can also depend on the combination of your designations and your title. If your title is "Senior Accountant" then putting "B.Comm." would be sort of silly in my opinion. however, if your title is "City Councilor" and you put "B.Comm." then that tells me something additional about yourself. Or even if you are, say, a real estate agent - the "B.Comm." may be of interest to potential clients.

As for EIT, I've seen quite a few of those and even more people who do not bother putting it. Often those people would already have a title like "Engineer in Training" or something, so it is redundant.

[TooSoonJr]

My company is kind of weird. All the top level execs are accountants with designations and/or MBA's. THey all have that listed on their business cards, but none of them have it listed on their e-mails, all they have is their name.

So instead of:

John Doe
Chief Financial Officer
XYZ Company
Address, blah blah

It's just John Doe...basically ALL top guys do it starting from the CEo to the regional VP's. The rest of us have our e-mails automatically say a disclaimer and all the other nonsense.

[bruizeman]

I think it can also depend on the combination of your designations and your title. If your title is "Senior Accountant" then putting "B.Comm." would be sort of silly in my opinion.

I had a KPMG "Senior Accountant" give me his card when he was doing our audit. On it, it said.... Name, BCOM... and that was it.

I was laughing pretty hard (after he left of course.... I'm a professional!), and showed it to the rest of my team... and I also tell that story at my new job.

[Redguard]

I had a KPMG "Senior Accountant" give me his card when he was doing our audit. On it, it said.... Name, BCOM... and that was it.

I was laughing pretty hard (after he left of course.... I'm a professional!), and showed it to the rest of my team... and I also tell that story at my new job.

I'm thinking one of three things.

1. He got his degree from an institution that uses BCom instead of B.Comm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachelor_of_Commerce

or

2. He's also a Missionary and belongs to the Bethany College of Missions
http://www.bcom.org/

or

3. He takes his accounting pretty seriously and has given himself the title of "Bean Counting Optimal Master!!"