Content

• To step
• Method 1 of 3: Know which English job titles are capitalized
• Method 2 of 3: Know when to write lowercase titles
• Method 3 of 3: Write titles in capital letters for an application
• Tips
• Warnings

The rules of grammar are always difficult to learn, especially since there are so many of them, and they all have many exceptions. Like the rest of English grammar, the capitalization rules for job titles can often be confusing. In most cases, however, there is no need to use capital letters. If you take a moment to learn the few cases where capitalization applies, you can be sure that you can write a function correctly.

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Method 1 of 3: Know which English job titles are capitalized

1. Write proper names with a capital letter. This is the most common capitalization rule. It means using uppercase letters for the unique names of specific nouns (such as' Paris', 'Saturn', 'Alex' or 'Greenpeace') but lowercase for 'common nouns' that refer to a class of nouns (such as' city ​​',' planet ',' baseball player 'or' environmental organization '). In the case of job titles, this means that most job titles are not capitalized.
   • However, a title that refers to an official, unique position, such as the "Queen of England", must be capitalized.
2. Capitalize job titles when they precede someone's name. If a specific title is immediately preceding a name and refers to that specific person, usually as part of a proper name, then that title should be capitalized. That is, "Reverend James" is written as "Reverend James" and "Doctor Smith" as "Doctor Smith" or "Dr. Smith ".
   • Note that this rule only applies to titles that have been officially granted or awarded. For example, write 'Professor Anita Brown', 'Judge Regina Blake' and 'President Flora Barnum' in capital letters, but titles like 'artist', 'race car driver' or 'musician' without capital letters, as in, 'This song is performed by musician Louis Armstrong. '
   • Another way to determine whether a position immediately preceding a person's name should be capitalized is by checking whether it is a title or a description. So "Director of Marketing Joanna Russell" is correct if that is Joanna's official title. If you're just describing her position, don't write it in capital letters, but as "marketing chief Joanna Russell".
3. Capitalize job titles when signing something. At the end of a letter, in an email or other message, your job title should start with a capital letter. Instead of "John Smith, Editor in Chief", sign with "John Smith, Editor in Chief".
4. Capitalize job titles when used in place of a name. If you are using someone's title as a substitute for their name, especially when addressing the person directly, you should capitalize it.
   • For example: "Can you make it to my graduation, Dad?" Or "With all due respect, General, I disagree", or "I saw the Queen of England ride by today."
   • This rule also applies to the expression of respect, such as "Your Honor" or "Your Highness".
5. Use capital letters for endowed positions. Some job titles such as endowed professorships or fellowships are proper names as they are unique. In this case, because the job titles are proper names, you should write them in capital letters, even if they are written after the person's name.
   • For example: "Georgina Bourassa, the Barnaby G. Gray Professor of Circuses, taught for five years."
6. Do not forget to use initial capital letters. This means that you always capitalize the first name, last name and capital words in a title, but unimportant words such as prepositions (such as as, 'and', 'about' or 'or'), conjunctions (such as' and ',' but 'or' with ') or articles (' a ',' an 'or' the ') are not.
   • For example: "Associate Director of Research and Development for the Cancer Unit at Pharmacon" should be correctly written as "Associate Director of Research and Development for the Cancer Unit at Pharmacon."
   • Networks (such as ESPN) and news sources (such as CNN) are good resources for determining which words in a title should or should not be capitalized.
   • You can also use a style guide or enter the text into a website to determine capitalization in job titles (such as http://titlecapitalization.com/) and choose the style you want.

Method 2 of 3: Know when to write lowercase titles

1. Do not capitalize unofficial titles or generic names. When the job title refers to a profession or class of jobs rather than a specific or official title, do not capitalize it.
   • For example, `` Janice Buckley is a microbiologist, '' or `` Here are some tips from painter John Green. '' In either case, these job titles are used to describe a profession rather than an official title, so don't capitalize them. .
2. Do not capitalize a title that stands on its own. If a title is separate from all names and if a noun is used in a sentence, then write it in lowercase. This is the most common case with job titles, which means that they are usually not capitalized.
   • For example: "John, who is a salesperson, works at the dealership" or "The clerk helped us with the documents."
3. Use lowercase letters if the title in a sentence comes after a person's name. This is true regardless of whether the title is specific or general, official or unofficial.
   • For example, "Jesse Roberts, editor in chief at Grammar Central, hates typos" or "Helena Briggs, social worker with the NHS, is a handling the case."

Method 3 of 3: Write titles in capital letters for an application

1. Capitalize job titles when they are headlines on your resume. When you mention a previous official position in your resume, you must write it in capital letters. For example: "Director of Human Resources (2011 - Present)".
2. Don't capitalize job titles in the body of your resume. If the title is used as part of a sentence or paragraph of your resume (for example, in the executive summary or in a job description), do not use capital letters. For example: "As director of human resources, I upped recruitment and decreased time-to-hire."
3. Be consistent with your uppercase / lowercase letters for official job titles in cover letters. There is no consensus on whether or not you should capitalize specific, official job titles in your cover letter. The most important thing is to decide on a form and to maintain it throughout the text.
   • When applying for a specific position, many people tend to put that job title in capital letters in the cover letter, such as, `` I am writing to apply for the Assistant Professor of American Literature post at Bard College. '' Do you do this, make sure that you also write the other specific functions in your letter in capital letters.
   • The best way to decide this is to look at the job openings and on the company's website to see whether or not they capitalize specific job titles in their texts. If so, do this yourself.
   • In any case, remember that you should never write general functions in capital letters in a sentence, such as, 'I have more than twenty years of experiences as a director of human resources' or' I am looking for a position as a campaign manager in the nonprofit sector. '

Tips

• When in doubt, write the functions with a capital letter. It is usually not necessary, and most style guides recommend that you use less capital letters.

Warnings

• The conventions for the use of capital letters may differ per country, or even depend on your field of work. For example, there are differences between the US and the UK, as well as between biologists and journalists. Make sure you are aware of the conventions you must adhere to when writing texts for a specific audience.
• When writing something for your job, check to see if there is a company policy or organizational style guide that you can use as a reference for capitalization preferences.