Proper term on business cards

Re: Ask Dr. Science - He knows more than you do.

I had the same experience with a co-worker who constantly was name-dropping Stanford, even though he earned an undergraduate degree, which always left me wondering if he was the smartest guy in his graduating class or the dumbest guy. Perhaps it didn't matter, because ostensibly he knew other smart people at Stanford... However, I suspected he was seated in the caboose.

Cheers,

Dave

 

Re: Re: Ask Dr. Science - He knows more than you do.

Exactly. I used to wonder the same thing. He also used to constantly disparage public universities, sort of in jest, but it happened so often, I used to wonder what the hang up was. This made me think he came from the caboose too. I used to rile him by accusing Stanford of rampant grade inflation.

 

I recommend consulting Miss Manners' Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior.

Never take a title to yourself, not even Mr., Mrs., Miss, or Ms. (Miss Manners explains that "Miss" in her own case is not a title but rather is her given name).

I presume that includes "Dr."

BTW, Miss Manners' Guide is actually a rather valuable resource, even though occasionally tongue-in-cheek.

 

Re: Ask Dr. Science - He knows more than you do.

It seems that this discussion is restricted to business degrees but I couldn't resist chipping in. My business card reads "LICSW" after my name. This is a reference to my Social Work license (Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker), the highest level of licensure in the state. Implied in this is my MSW. If a Social Worker (in Massachusetts) simply writes "MSW" after their name what is implied is that they are not licensed. If a person has both an MSW and a PhD they tend to have both on their cards (John Doe, MSW, PhD) as having only the PhD listed would suggest to many that the person was a Psychologist and not a Social Worker. At this level it is the license that is implied. Social Workers who have obtained full licensure rarely allow their licenses to lapse. I have always assumed that these business card practices vary from place to place like any cultural phenomenon.
Jack

 

work in IT and have seen a person's business card layout in those fields listed like this:

John Doe
MCSE, CCNA, MCDBA
MBA

I guess they did it this way since the certifications they achieved were more relevant to the field of IT. I feel it looks acceptable to list the MBA on a separate line. I guess if this person was utilizing his MBA over his certs, he would switch their positions. I personally look at it in terms of how does the layout look? I would rather go with a layout that looked nicer rather than try to list things based upon importance or career. I personally would have done this:

John Doe, MBA
MCSE, CCNA, MCDBA

 

If the PhD is in business, it is redundant to include the MBA. In Business Faculties, the PhD is normally included in business cards but not the MBA unless the faculty member holds a PhD in a different area (e.g. engineering).

The question is what to do if you have a
DBA and work in a country where universites don't grant DBAs like in Canada. The term DBA in a business card can be confused with a Database Administrator. French universities grant the degree "Doctorat en Administration"
but holders of such degree refer themselves as PhDs instead of DBAs. So, is it correct to use the letters PhD if one holds a DBA in Canada?

 

Re: Re: Proper term on business cards

This is interesting.

I am about to finish my MBA. And I am going to start a Phd afterwards. And showing the title and the subject I'm in is quite important.

Hence, I couldn't help but to wonder, if my Phd is in, say, Decision Sciences or Astronomy, then should the title goes like this?

For instance,

If the phd is not related to business, then

Clark Kent, Ph.D (Astronomy), MBA, blah blah blah

I suppose this is alright, right?



But what if it's related to business, then

Clark Kent, Ph.D (Decision Sciences), MBA, blah blah blah

Does that look stupid at all?



To get more confusing, what about showing the Oxon or Cantab thing together? How would the title go?


Or perhaps where would the business card go? The trash can perhaps?


Thanks,

M.

 

I think it would be only legal to use the title that was granted on the actual degree certificate.

For example, if your certificate stated as follows:

Doctor of Business Administration, you could use DBA and "Doctor" and "Dr.", but not PhD under any circumstance, in Canada or otherwise!

If if was a Doctor of Philosophy, you could use PhD or DPhil (depending on the school) and "Doctor" and "Dr."

There are some programs that use the following nomenclature:

Engineering Doctorate (EngD) or
Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA).

If the degree certificate does not EXPLICITLY state the word "DOCTOR" you may not be able to legally use it, but who would press this issue? You never know!

Be careful that you don't end up spending 4 years on a doctorate and end up not being able to use "Doctor" or "Dr." because the degree is a Doctorate in..... and not Doctor of .....

 

If you have a legitimate DBA or other doctorate, you can certainly call yourself "Doctor" in the United States.

An interesting situation arises with physicians from other countries whose medical degrees carry designations such as MBChB (bachelor of medicine and bachelor of surgery). Such individuals frequently use the format "Joe Bloggs, MD" in the U.S.