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When Do You Capitalize
When Do You Capitalize
When Do You Capitalize
The short answer is to capitalize job titles when they act as proper nouns.
When job titles are used as common nouns, use lowercase for the first letter.
How do you know if a job title is a proper noun or just a common noun?
Basically, if a job title is part of the name, then it’s a proper noun and you
capitalize it. To put it another way, when a job title is used before a name, it’s
similar to a courtesy title like Mr. or Ms. and should be capitalized.
Editor in Chief Jameson replaced our former editor in chief 10 years ago.
In this usage, the job title comes immediately before the name. A
general capitalization rule is to capitalize job titles when they come directly in
front of a name, but not when they’re used elsewhere in a sentence.
This rule proves true most of the time, but you have to be careful
about appositives, which are noun phrases that precede or follow other nouns
and describe them. If either a person’s name or job title is used as an
appositive, you do not capitalize the job title. How can you tell if it’s an
appositive? Look for a comma—appositives are often set apart with a comma.
So the quick rule for when to capitalize job titles is this: if the job title comes
immediately before a name and there’s no comma between them,
capitalize it.
However, there are a few more instances when you capitalize a job title, and
these have their own special guidelines. Let’s look at those now.
When the test results come back, Doctor, please call me.
If your name and job title appear in a formal listing or signature line, capitalize
the job title. These include mail and email signatures, website profiles, and
bylines, as well as other formal situations where names are listed alongside
job titles. Conventionally, the job title comes after the name, separated by a
comma.
Sincerely,
Amadou Ba, Head of Marketing
However, if the job title is spelled out, it follows the standard rules for job title
capitalization. That means if the spelled-out job title is used as a common
noun, it is not capitalized.
The chief executive officer asked an employee to parallel park for them.
Just as job titles are capitalized as part of a person’s name, so too are they
capitalized as part of a place’s or institution’s name. In both cases, the job title
is part of a proper noun, so it’s capitalized.
However, note that when job titles are used in your résumé or CV, this counts
as a formal listing. In other words, capitalize a job title in your résumé or
CV when it’s given as the name of a position you held, but not when it
appears in a description of the work you did.
In essays, capitalize job titles according to the rules above. This goes double
for job application essays, which like cover letters will probably mention job
titles often. Remember that it is not capitalized if you’re discussing the job title
as a concept and not in reference to a particular person or institution.
In cover letters and résumés or CVs, job titles follow the standard
capitalization rules. However, note that when job titles are used in your
résumé or CV, this counts as a formal listing. In other words, capitalize job
titles when they’re used as an entry on a résumé or CV, but not when they’re
used in descriptions.
In essays, capitalize job titles according to the standard rules. This goes
double for job application essays, which will probably mention job titles often.
Remember that it is not capitalized if you’re discussing the job title as a
concept and not in reference to a particular person or institution.