There is debate in the financial services industry about the value and validity of credentials and the significance and legality of using abstruse acronyms after names. Okay, maybe it’s just two heated e-mails in financial-planning.com, but it sparks in me what can best be described as a pet peeve.
One of the combatants in the above mentioned melee signs his name with the following: AAMS, AWMA, CLTC, CLTCA, CRPC, CSA, DHP, DIA, HCSA, HIA, HIPAAA, HIPAAP, LTCP, LUTCF, MHP, RFC, RHU.
C’mon, is all that necessary? Ever hear the word focus? Sometimes we get just a little too full of ourselves, and then lose sight of what we’re trying to do.
When I was a technical writer, I was amazed at how many of my peers aggrandized themselves by their titles. I was content with “the writer guy” until I read some of theirs. So I started collecting actual monikers used by others and adding them to my own. My business card read something like this:
Senior Semitechnical Communication Specialist
English Lexicon And Grammar Authority
Principal Online Help Designer And Content Developer
Primary Help Performance Support And Usability Technician
Executive Documentation/Electronic Publishing Manager
Prototype Testing And Compilation Procedure Superintendent
Administrative Project Estimation Professional
Master Contingency Planner
Expert User Assistance Analyst
Chief Third-Party HAT and DPS Evaluator
Head Index Creation And Usability Supervisor
Advanced Editorial Liaison
And I thought I was just the writer guy.
