Signing off cover letter

glider3560

Is it standard practice to put your degrees as post-nomial letters on the covering letter for a job application?

I.e. which one of these:

Mr A Person BSc (Hons)
or
Mr A Person

Also, for someone with a PhD, what would be preferable?

A Person BSc MSc PhD
or
Dr A Person

Reason for asking is to settle a disagreement with a friend who reckons I should put my degree after my name. I don't think it is needed as my CV lists everything anyway.

mynameistallulah

I think it is all down to personal preference - my dad thinks I should put my qualifications on everything, but if they are on the cv I see no need to put them on the letter ... Seems a bit like overkill?

LittleVoice

glider3560 wrote: »

Is it standard practice to put your degrees as post-nomial letters on the covering letter for a job application?

I.e. which one of these:

Mr A Person BSc (Hons)
or
Mr A Person

Also, for someone with a PhD, what would be preferable?

A Person BSc MSc PhD
or
Dr A Person

Reason for asking is to settle a disagreement with a friend who reckons I should put my degree after my name. I don't think it is needed as my CV lists everything anyway.

My opinion:

Never use "Mr" in a signature block.

If you do have a doctorate and it is required for the job, it would be OK to use "Dr".

Post nominals after your name at the head of the CV would be sufficient.

Annisele

I think it depends on the industry. Where I work now, I've never seen anybody use nominals at all (plenty of people have an alphabet soup of the things, we just don't use them). In a previous job I wouldn't have been too surprised to have seen "Mr John Smith Cycling Proficiency".

bluenoseam

I would consider post nominals on a covering letter as slightly pretentious, but I guess it would depend on the situation.

RuthnJasper

The correct form in the post-signature line should be:

John. S. Smith

As opposed to:

Mr. J.S. Smith BSc (Hons)

The exception would be for a woman, who might take offence if her marital status was mistook by her new employers - she could put (it's optional though):

Jane S. Smith (Miss) - single, never married
Jane. S. Smith (Mrs.) - married
Jane S. Smith (Ms.) - divorced, feminist or same-sex orientated (!)

Other exceptions could be certain titles, for example:-

The Rev'd John S. Smith
Dr. Jane. S. Smith
The Hon. Jane Smith
Sir John Smith
John S. Smith (Lord Northwatt of Canterbury)

If it is a covering letter, then presumably the degree you have achieved, plus your personal circumstances will be on your CV and/or application for the recipient to see and there is no need to repeat them in your letter.

I hope this is helpful OP - I wish you every success with your applications. The fact that you have taken the time and trouble to ask about letter etiquette speaks very highly about your care and conscientiousness and I am sure that you will go far.

Best of luck. xxx

glider3560

Thanks for all the supportive replies.

Everyone appears to agree with my opinion, which is exactly what I'll be doing.

Emmzi

RuthnJasper wrote: »

Jane S. Smith (Miss) - single, never married
Jane. S. Smith (Mrs.) - married
Jane S. Smith (Ms.) - divorced, feminist or same-sex orientated (!)

Seriously? Ms. can also mean "my martial status is none of your damn business." Your comment above reads homophobic to me!

Anyway. I woul be irritated by qualifications in a signature, especially when your CV is right there. Just the name is good for me.

RuthnJasper

Emmzi wrote: »

Seriously? Ms. can also mean "my martial status is none of your damn business." Your comment above reads homophobic to me!

Anyway. I woul be irritated by qualifications in a signature, especially when your CV is right there. Just the name is good for me.

Martial...? No, I'm not maritally militant OR homophobic. I'm not saying that etiquette is fair or respectful of everyone's personal circumstances, but it is what it is. Apologies for any offence unwittingly caused.

hcb42

I agree. I use Ms and I am neither divorced, feminist or same sex oriented - I just happen to think it is no one else's business at interview stage.

Savvy_Sue

RuthnJasper wrote: »

The exception would be for a woman, who might take offence if her marital status was mistook by her new employers - she could put (it's optional though):

Jane S. Smith (Miss) - single, never married

Maybe: I have a just married colleague who intends to remain as Miss Firstname Singlename, and I've told her there's absolutely no reason why she has to become either a Mrs or a Ms.

Culturally, she wouldn't normally take her new husband's name anyway. She says to be a Mrs Singlename makes her sound like her mum!