BSME in email signature? 8

[kevindurette]

I work as an applications engineer and reverse engineer for a distributor, and many of our clients have little or no college education. The term "engineer" seems to be loosely tossed around by people all over this industry. I did not take my FE exam, though, so I cannot call myself an EIT. Would it be appropriate to put BSME at the end of my name in my email signature? It doesn't seem to be a title that people often brag about; I'm sure my bachelor's degree required only a fraction of the work it must take to earn a doctorate's degree. It might clear up questions of credibility with customers with whom I have not yet dealt, however. I don't want to come off as arrogant either, though. What do you think?

 

[Ron]

kevindurette...as you found, Florida is a little picky on this issue. I practice in Florida and it is my primary license state...

Did you graduate from a university in Florida? Most require the EI exam or at least highly encourage it prior to graduation.

 

[kevindurette]

UCF didn't require it, but they encouraged it. Like an idiot, I put it off a few times and never got it done. I'll hopefully register this April and study my [neck] off, but I graduated in December 2007, and it's going to be rough to say the least.

 

[PeterStock]

When I graduated from Florida Atlantic University (BS Ocean Eng 1987) the EIT was not required for graduation. As the job I had then and those since have not required a PE (Although there were some PE's working at at least one of the companies along the way.), I have not taken the EIT. At this point I doubt I ever will. I would encourage those who are in school now to take the EIT or FE or whatever is is called now while the subject matter is fresh.

Peter Stockhausen
Senior Design Analyst (Checker)
Infotech Aerospace Services

http://www.infotechpr.net

 

[Maximise]

Similarly what do you guys put in your email signature when applying for jobs?

Would you state your degree title in your signature for information or would this show an inferiority complex?

Slightly off-topic - on your CV, as a title
is writing your full name (first name, all middle names and last name) over the top?

Curious to see what you guys think.

 

[steellion]

Maximise, I wouldn't put the degree in the email signature for job application. You can either put it in the body of the email, or better yet, an attached resume.

I would think your full name is only needed if that's what you want to be called. Use the name you go by on a daily basis. Even if they need that information for a security clearance or other reason, they can easily get it later once you have the job.

 

[KirbyWan]

How you write your name on the top of your resume/CV is purely a stylistic choice. I would avoid it if you have 4 middle names. but I might also include it if you have short common first and last names. John Zerubabel Smith is just a bit more memorable then John Smith. I usually use my initial or leve my middle name out, since my middle name is Wayne. I don't want a prospective employer to think I'm a murderer.

I would probably not put my degree in my email signature, but might put in a general title for the type of job I'm going for, such as mechanical engineer.

Kirby Wilkerson

Remember, first define the problem, then solve it.

 

[YoungTurk]

Well, we've strayed so far from the OP (you all still sound riduculous re:calling yourself an engineer, but apparently I'm exempt from your ridiculousness) I might as well add my .02 about name choice.

Be careful what you put on that resume. When I got my first professional job, I put the full given name up there. Thought it looked impressive. So when they hired me, that is what they put me in the system as. And put on my name tag. On the paperwork. On everything. That is who I was. It didn't take long before I was sick and tired of people calling me by my full name, which I NEVER used previously in day to day situations. Sure, you can get the people around you to use your short name, but if your nametag, business card, email and whatever else have the full spiel, your going to get a lot of that too.

Suffice it to say I'll never send out a resume with anything other than what I want to be adressed as in person on the header again. I do have a somewhat common name and dreadful middle name, so I do add the middle initial.

 

[mechmama]

If I ever found out that a candidate I was interviewing had to ask a public forum how to sign an email or how to format his name on his resume, he would go in the round file immediately. Seriously? Should you use your whole name or not? The university system has failed you miserably if you cannot decide this on your own. Do you twitter in the morning to figure out what color pants to wear, too?

 

[YoungTurk]

I must have missed the classes on appropriate name choice and title identification.

Meanwhile, you seem to have missed the classes on casual conversation and attention to detail.

 

[FeX32]

Fe

 

[kevindurette]

mechmama, I came here looking for advice. Did you honestly think your comment would cause me to reconsider this whole premise? It smells like "ad hominem" if you ask me. An email signature is an integral part of the media. I have my own interpretations of what its elements mean to me, but in the absence of conversations about this, how am how am I to know the general consensus of what the engineering public thinks about them? I ask these things to seek two-way understanding. Your comment presumes that I was supposed to have been born with such insight. I spent my time in college working low-end jobs and essentially studying physics, and this issue never arose.

 

[Ron]

mechmama...lighten up....these issues are not taught in engineering school and sometime not clear even in the in-house mentoring process.

kevindurette....keep applying. Someone will find unity with your technical qualifications and appropriateness.


Good luck.
Ron

 

[TheTick]

At least he had the good sense to ask, instead of just plowing ahead and embarrassing himself. You could learn...

 

[photoengineer]

Kevin,

YOu're not alone. I go by my middle name rather than my first name. It wasn't unitl I was 25 that I finally learned how to write my name to cover this. (Writing J. Geroge Smith is how I write it, but that didn't look right when I was 12.) I had to ask around and keep my eye open to figure out how to do it.

Cedar Bluff Engineering

http://cedarbluffengineering.webs.com

 

[KirbyWan]

Mechmama,

People vex about there resumes and CVs because there are people, apparently like you, who will round file it for the most minor of issues. Given the difficulty of finding a job, asking about such minutia as to how to write your name is both a valid question and an important one if it prevents someone from tossing your resume. We are not English majors, and some of us don't even have English as our first language or Western European/American culture as our native culture. I don't think it's right to skewer someone for trying to get their CV just right.

-Kirby

Kirby Wilkerson

Remember, first define the problem, then solve it.

 

[TenPenny]

I find that in the world of business communications, there is a distinct lack of any sense of how to present yourself and your company in a professsional atmosphere. Many people have signature lines that have favorite quotes, etc, and they use these on professional communications, and the often look distinctly amateur.

I note that the bigger multinational firms tend to have rigid corporate standards for email signature formats, but most others pretty much leave it up to the individual.

It certainly never hurts to get input from others on what looks appropriate and what doesn't.

 

[JohnRBaker]

Here in the states generally the only 'titles' I ever see used by 'engineers' are so-called professional certifications such as PE, or in the case of Manufacturing, CMfgE and CMfgT. Occasionally if someone has a PhD, you might either see the title Dr. or PhD appended at the end.

Now in Europe, at least dealing with engineering people, they seem to go in big for adding not only certifications but also their highest degree achieved even if it isn't a PhD or equivalent. Now I have several friends and co-workers here in the states (engineers or otherwise) who have a PhD and while some might indicate that on their business cards or business email signatures, most do not (of course Medical professionals are the exception, but then in their line of work I guess 'Dr' has a different connotation altogether). However, I can't recall ever running into a European, of any profession, who if he/she had a PhD or equivalent, would not be using the title Dr. in even casual situations and would certainly include it anytime his/her name appeared in print anywhere. I don't know if it's cultural, ego or what, but it always struck me as a bit pretentious.

Anyway, that's my two-cents worth.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

http://www.plmworld.org/museum/

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.