Is it obnoxious to list degree acronymns behind your name on your resume?

[soliloquy]

I can't find the article I read but I was reading on this debate on just how many academic degree abbreviations are appropriate to put on your resume? I said acronymns before...whichever.

Anyway, do you think you should list only professional certifications after your name on your resume or do you list your master's degree as well? Also do you only list the ones applicable to the job you are applying for but still include the certifications within the body of your resume? In the debate I read some were saying it came across as arrogant to list a Master's degree on a resume that way. They accepted it for a Ph.d. or some other higher level graduate degree, however.

For example, suppose you saw this name:

Jane Doe, JD, MBA, CPA, PMI-PMP, PMI-ACP (That is someone's real title).

Is that too much? Or, would you proudly list all of it.

Yes, I'm bored. I graduated from school, submitted my application to graduate school, and now I don't know what to do with myself except study for the next certification exam but I'm waiting for my books to arrive from amazon. LOL

[Jonathan Whatley]

I'd say it varies by professional field and context. As a starting point, what do peers in your profession, in your area, at your organization or similar do? Two fields that come to mind where long strings of degrees and certifications seem common are nursing, and financial planning / investment and insurance sales. On which, see

Alphabet Soup: Why So Many Letters After Nurses' Names? (Genevieve M. Clavreul, RN, PhD, Working Nurse.com)

and Is Your Adviser Pumping Up His Credentials? Those Fancy Initials After Your Financial Adviser's Name Might Not Be As Impressive as They Seem (Jason Zweig and Mary Pilon, The Wall Street Journal, October 16, 2010).

[KayV]

At the school where I teach, we were asked to list our degrees after our names in emails. I just put the highest degree since the others are assumed, so mine says, "KayV, Ed.S." It's also listed on my business cards like that, but nowhere else do I reference it.

[cookderosa]

The letters tell a lot about a person. I couldn't tell you what the example you linked means, I don't know anything about that industry, but if you were a chef and you used this:

Jon C. Chef, CC, CPC, MB, CCP

I'd know you were a loser trying to buy certs to puff yourself up. On the other hand, if you showed up with this:

Jon C. Chef, CEC, MS

those are solid. If you applied with this:

Jon C. Chef, CMC

I couldn't afford you. (But I'd double check the registry....just to be sure you weren't bluffing )

I think people can see through puffed up show pony certifications, but real-valid- credentials should always be included in your resume. Using letters? What better place? I think if your snap chat siggy has credential letters you've gone too far.

[sklineho]

As others stated, it varies by profession. For example a professional counselor can simply put LPC (or LMHC in some states) and that's enough but some people will use John Doe LPM NCC MA. To me that's kind of obnoxious and redundant to a degree. You having passed the NBCC exam really doesn't mean much to most people. And you having at least an MA is sort of a given if you're an LPC. Most mental health workers who are in private practice will already have their various degrees and certificates plastered all over their offices anyway along with membership certificates like ACA etc. No need to give yourself a ton of prefixes too. The average person doesn't have a clue what that stuff means anyway.

[sanantone]

A common combination I see here in Texas is LPC, LCDC (licensed chemical dependency counselor). Sometimes I might see PhD, LCDC; LMFT, LCDC; or LMSW or LCSW, LCDC. I guess this lets people know that you specialize in substance abuse counseling. Of course I see PhD, LPC (or LMHC or the other masters-level licenses) because the assumption is that the LPC or LMSW or whatever usually only has a masters degree.

[sklineho]

Well also many people with a PH.D after an LMHC/LPC note both because their PH.D is actually in counselor education, not strictly counseling. (to my knowledge there is no "counseling" Ph.D)

[Jonathan Whatley]

(to my knowledge there is no "counseling" Ph.D)

Oregon State University
Ph.D. in Counseling
Hybrid, with in-person sessions twice each academic quarter.

[Johann]

Is it obnoxious, you ask? Certainly, there are some in what I'd call the "overkill zone." Try this one. 21 completed degrees and more underway! More Associate degrees than a Community College prospectus!

Aric W Hall* -* Resume* -* Education* -* -* -*

Johann

[KayV]

I think TJC changed its rules because of him (bless his heart). He got 6 of those associate degrees on December 16, 2000... now page 49 of the TJC catalog says:

A student may not earn more than one Associate’s degree per calendar year. Students may not receive a certificate at the same time as receiving an Associate of Applied Science within the same program.