For those of you with letters after your name...

[Labcat]

how do you prefer to be addressed?

I know the etiquette for addressing doctors (Ph.D and medical) but what about lawyers, engineers, accountants, nurses, etc.?  I ask because I have to email someone who I will be interviewing with soon and I'm not sure how to open the email.  The person has a masters degree and the profession has its own set of letters once the person passes the board exam.  Is this something you would include in the salutation or is it just something they would normally include in their signature? I will also be asking my adviser at my school but while thinking about it I wondered how other people prefer to be addressed.  What say you?

[movingforward]

I have a masters degree and should have letters after my name once I take my exam in Dec. 2014.  I don't expect anyone to address me any differently once I have letters after my name.  Unless someone is a doctor or a judge, I don't know that you need to address them any differently.  The person I hire to do our CPR training is a Captain for the fire dept.  I do address him as Captain though... hmmmm... I guess it really depends.  What type of profession is this? 

[midjd]

I address everyone as Mr./Ms. in an initial email - usually their reply will indicate how they'd like to be addressed (Bill, William Smith, etc.)

I've received everything from Dear Ms. Smith to Dear Jane to Dear Attorney Smith - any are fine with me.

[Abby Normal]

Unless you are hiring a Doctor, a judge or a professor,  I would guess that anyone else wouldn't be offended by referring as MR or MRS or MS.  If they are, they are likely people you don't want to work with anyway. 


If I accidently call someone Mr and he corrected me to call him "God of the universer" or whatever title- it depends on how he says it. If it's I go by GOU Smith.  Fine.  If he cops an arrogant attitude and says " IT"S GOU"  I'm probably not going to want to work for him.

[hoops902]

Since I have a Master's degree, I expect to be addressed as Master Hoops.

[Spellbound454]

I should imagine its... Dear Mr Whatever

Lots of people have letters after their name...They don't use them unless it on a prospectus, business card or something.

[Abby Normal]

Aug 8, 2013 10:43:16 GMT -5 hoops902 said:

Since I have a Master's degree, I expect to be addressed as Master Hoops.

Bates902 would have made that much funnier. 

[Spellbound454]

[Phoenix84]

My understanding is that unless they're a doctor or a judge, you can just call them Mr. or Ms. in the salutation.  I'm not aware of any special way you should address someone with a master's degree.

[Deleted]

Aug 8, 2013 10:48:13 GMT -5 Spellbound454 said:

I should imagine its... Dear Mr Whatever

Lots of people have letters after their name...They don't use them unless it on a prospectus, business card or something.

Right- I'm an actuary and my official designation is as a Fellow of the Society.  No one addresses me that way!  I do include the letters on my business card and my business e-mail signature line. 

[mtman]

Aug 8, 2013 11:15:44 GMT -5 Phoenix84 said:

unless they're a doctor or a judge, you can just call them Mr. or Ms.

Doctors and judges are no better than anyone else......Mr. and Ms. is just fine for them also.

[Abby Normal]

Aug 8, 2013 11:22:26 GMT -5 mtman said:

Aug 8, 2013 11:15:44 GMT -5 Phoenix84 said:

unless they're a doctor or a judge, you can just call them Mr. or Ms.

Doctors and judges are no better than anyone else......Mr. and Ms. is just fine for them also.

Not in a professional capacity. This is someone she is interviewing with.  Outside yes.

[amishgal]

My husband is an LA (Landscape Architect) and likes to be called Conquistador. 

[Phoenix84]

Aug 8, 2013 11:22:26 GMT -5 mtman said:

Aug 8, 2013 11:15:44 GMT -5 Phoenix84 said:

unless they're a doctor or a judge, you can just call them Mr. or Ms.

Doctors and judges are no better than anyone else......Mr. and Ms. is just fine for them also.

Outside of a professional setting absolutely.  But in a professional setting, especially a formal setting like an interview, it's best to use the appropriate forms of address. 

I agree it would be awkward if you were in a social setting off work and someone insisted you call them "doctor smith."

[greeniis10]

Can you find (or maybe you already have) contact info for the person you'll be emailing?  Maybe you can tell by how they have their name and title listed.  Other than that, best to err on the side of caution and be overly professional (using their title and/or letters) and let them state how they want to be addressed.

[whoisjohngalt]

OK, so this is one of those things that irks me about doctors - for some reason they want to be addressed as doctors ALL.THE.TIME.  Like when you send a wedding invitation, etc

OP - if you are going to be interviewing them - I would go by their professional title, I guess.   Oh, who am I kidding?  I have no clue

[Deleted]

Aug 8, 2013 11:37:47 GMT -5 Phoenix84 said:

I agree it would be awkward if you were in a social setting off work and someone insisted you call them "doctor smith."

I had a great-great uncle who became a priest. My mother said that after his ordination, he required that everyone, even family, address him as "Father (first name)". But then he was that kind of guy.

Many people I've worked with in my field have been Ph.Ds and most of them are pretty unpretentious about it. It may or may not go on their business card but we were all on a first-name basis anyway. If I were to address a job applicant with a Ph.D., it would definitely be "Dr. ---".

[Phoenix84]

I work with a lot of PhD's.  We're pretty informal about it.  On "official" memos or documents I sometimes write, I always use the term Dr. when referring to them.

[Abby Normal]

Aug 8, 2013 11:43:59 GMT -5 whoisjohngalt said:

OK, so this is one of those things that irks me about doctors - for some reason they want to be addressed as doctors ALL.THE.TIME.  Like when you send a wedding invitation, etc

OP - if you are going to be interviewing them - I would go by their professional title, I guess.   Oh, who am I kidding?  I have no clue

Not all doctors are like that.  I knew someone casually through agility with my dogs.  We had class together for a while and would hang out at agility trials.  One day we were joking around about needing drugs.  She said she had some needles in her car.  I must have had a surprised look on my face.  She told me she was a doctor.  I couldn't have been more surprised.  Not just a doctor, an actual freaking brain surgeon. 

[Labcat]

Right- I'm an actuary and my official designation is as a Fellow of the Society. No one addresses me that way! I do include the letters on my business card and my business e-mail signature line.

I guess I wasn't as clear as I thought.  This is for the salutation in an email.  In person it would just be Mr./Ms. ----.  So it would be more like the situation above.  I know their title and all the letters...but do I include them in the email?

Example:
Dear Mr./Ms. Smith CRT-ACCS,
or 
Dear Mr./Ms. Smith,

[midjd]

Aug 8, 2013 12:23:02 GMT -5 Labcat said:

Right- I'm an actuary and my official designation is as a Fellow of the Society. No one addresses me that way! I do include the letters on my business card and my business e-mail signature line.

I guess I wasn't as clear as I thought.  This is for the salutation in an email.  In person it would just be Mr./Ms. ----.  So it would be more like the situation above.  I know their title and all the letters...but do I include them in the email?

Example:
Dear Mr./Ms. Smith CRT-ACCS,
or 
Dear Mr./Ms. Smith,

In an email, I wouldn't - just Mr./Ms. Smith should be fine.

In a formal letter, I'd include the designation in the address line, but not in the actual salutation -

Mr. John Smith, CRT-ACCS
123 Main Street
Anywhere, US 12345

Dear Mr. Smith...

[whoisjohngalt]

Aug 8, 2013 12:07:20 GMT -5 Abby Normal said:

Aug 8, 2013 11:43:59 GMT -5 whoisjohngalt said:

OK, so this is one of those things that irks me about doctors - for some reason they want to be addressed as doctors ALL.THE.TIME.  Like when you send a wedding invitation, etc

OP - if you are going to be interviewing them - I would go by their professional title, I guess.   Oh, who am I kidding?  I have no clue

Not all doctors are like that.  I knew someone casually through agility with my dogs.  We had class together for a while and would hang out at agility trials.  One day we were joking around about needing drugs.  She said she had some needles in her car.  I must have had a surprised look on my face.  She told me she was a doctor.  I couldn't have been more surprised.  Not just a doctor, an actual freaking brain surgeon. 

The first time I called the office of my OBGYN her assistant kept saying "Mary", as in her first name.  I got so confused that I actually asked her  - is she a doctor or what?  Yep, she is very much a doctor and I've been with her for 5 yrs and still call her by her first name.  She also teaches in Harvard Medical School - I wonder what her students call her.  Until I met her, I never would have believed this kind of story

[Spellbound454]

Surgeons lose the DR and go back to being Mr/Mrs/MS when they qualify anyway.

I wouldn't call anyone by their first name unless they invited me to do so, especially in a professional capacity.........It would be bad manners to be over familiar.

As a teacher I'm known as Miss "Spellbound"....or Miss......The kids don't even know what my name is.

[svwashout]

My last work related outside e-mail exchange was yesterday with a patent attorney whom my company hired to draft a filing. I have a Ph.D. and I imagine he has a J.D., but our initial e-mails were addressed to first name (nicknames actually) even though we've never met. After we meet next week we'll probably drop the formalities and call each other "dude".

[sunshinegal1981]

Aug 8, 2013 13:17:23 GMT -5 Spellbound454 said:

Surgeons lose the DR and go back to being Mr/Mrs/MS when they qualify anyway.

I thought this was in the UK only?  All the US surgeons I've ever known have most certainly been "Dr."  


A physician ex of mine was one of those people who insisted on being addressed as "Dr." even in the most trivial situations...  we were picking up dry cleaning once, and he corrected the attendant when she called him Mr. 'X'.   Ugly. 

[973beachbum]

To me Physicians heal and Dr's teach, but in the US the honorific Dr is used for medical Dr's primarily.

If it is in a medical setting then to me all physicians must be called Dr and no one else ever.  I don't care how much it pissed the PhD in English Literature, or whatever, off.  It is just too confusing for the patients who need to know who is going to treat them medically.

PhD's should always be addressed as Dr so and So in an acedemic setting though.  The only thing introducing themself as Dr does in a regular setting is get people to insist on telling them about their medical problems.   I have no idea why anyone would want that.

I work with engineers and surveyers.  They use PE or PLS after their names for sealing prints or signing official letters and documents.  I would put it after their name for the address if I was sending the coorispondance to them about work but it would never occur to me to put the PE after their name in a salutation of a letter or email though.

[Bob Ross]

I usually like to be addressed by my name, followed by OMGWTFBBQ.

What?  I like to whip out some barbeque.

[swamp]

how do you prefer to be addressed?

Swamp. 

[mmhmm]

Aug 8, 2013 12:23:02 GMT -5 Labcat said:

Right- I'm an actuary and my official designation is as a Fellow of the Society. No one addresses me that way! I do include the letters on my business card and my business e-mail signature line.

I guess I wasn't as clear as I thought.  This is for the salutation in an email.  In person it would just be Mr./Ms. ----.  So it would be more like the situation above.  I know their title and all the letters...but do I include them in the email?

Example:
Dear Mr./Ms. Smith CRT-ACCS,
or 
Dear Mr./Ms. Smith,

No, Labcat, do not include the letters behind the name in your salutation.  That's not proper form.  Dear Mr./Ms. Smith is the accepted salutation.

[Spellbound454]

I thought this was in the UK only? All the US surgeons I've ever known have most certainly been "Dr."

I don't really know