Academic title in your e-mail signature

I put my job title in my email signature.
My academic title is not really relevant so I leave it out.

Is the academic title or certification relevant where you work?

 

We're required to put our job title on our sigs at work. Sometimes, if I know the person I'm writing, I replace my title with "Laboratory Dogsbody" .

 

I don't and never would 'just because'. I find it's off-putting and pretentious. (when optional)

If I were chatting with someone on the street and he or she out-of-nowhere said "I have a PhD", and it wasn't something I needed to know or care about, I would think they are kind of rude. I don't see how putting it in a signature unnecessarily is any different.

 

I don't usually, but I have been known to follow my initials with "range/lab rat" depending if I am on the test range or in the lab working. Most people I work with know that if I say that, I am out of town and don't try to get a hold of me any further.

 

My employer has a policy of NOT including academic/professional titles on any internal emails or reports. Job titles are a different matter - the logic being that your job title reflects what the company is paying you to do, not what pieces of paper you collected by jumping through hoops.

That doesn't necessarily apply to communications outside the company, if there is a justifiable reason for including them (e.g. published papers, conference presentations, etc) - but self-aggrandisement doesn't count as a justification.

But even with that policy, there are huge differences between different cultures. Our German colleagues don't think they "know" anybody until they have seen an organization chart with at least 100 boxes on it showing how they fit into the "big picture". And if you get confused and permute the order of Herr Dr. Ing. Eur. (or should that be Herr Ing. P. Eur. Dr.?) you instantly lose all credibility

 

Of course I do, I worked hard to get it If it is relevant for your work, why wouldn't you use it? When I send e-mails to colleagues or my hairdresser I always leave out the signature.