Do You Capitalize Career Titles?
When writing about job titles, it can often be difficult to know whether to capitalize or not. Here we’ll discuss the main considerations to keep in mind when writing about career titles.
Capitalize Formal Titles
Formal titles should always be capitalized when they appear before someone’s name. This includes titles such as President, Prime Minister, Mayor, Director, Professor, Doctor and Judge. Examples of proper capitalization include:
- President Obama
- Prime Minister Trudeau
- Mayor Brown
- Professor Smith
- Dr. Jones
- Judge Smith
These titles should also be capitalized when used as a recommendation for someone, such as “He was recently appointed as Director of the Board.”
Titles That Follow Names
Titles that appear after someone’s name are normally not capitalized, with the exception of medical or legal titles such as Doctor or Judge, as mentioned above. For example:
- John Smith, director of finance
- Sara Jones, assistant professor of economics
- Paul Williams, chief executive officer
Capitalizing Titles in Text
When using titles as part of your text or in place of a person’s name, they should generally be lowercased. For example:
- He was recently appointed as the director of the board.
- The assistant professor of economics gave her lecture.
- The chief executive officer made the announcement.
In summary, it is important to know when to capitalize career titles. Formal titles should always be capitalized when they appear before someone’s name, while titles that appear after the person’s name or are used as part of the text should usually be lowercased.
