Credentials in an Email Signature

Credentials in a signature, also called post-nominal letters, tell recipients what a person is qualified to do. The widely used order, especially in healthcare, is highest earned degree first, then licensure, then state designations, then national certifications, then awards and honors, each separated by a comma: for example Jane Doe, MSN, RN, CCRN or John Smith, CPA, CFP. Most people list only the credentials that matter to the recipient, since a long string of letters is harder to read, and some, such as honorary degrees, are not normally used after a name. Professions differ. Lawyers in the United States rarely put J.D. after their name in practice and use a title such as Attorney at Law instead; accountants list CPA; architects use AIA or RIBA; engineers use PE or CEng. Using a regulated designation you do not hold, or one that has lapsed, can be a professional conduct issue, so organizations that manage signatures centrally usually store credentials as a per-person field rather than letting anyone type them freely. Where a license number must appear, it typically goes on its own line under the title rather than after the name.