Signature Resumes

When did the signature line of our emails become an opportunity to double as our resume? With degrees, advanced degrees, professional organization certifications, technical certifications and everything else for which people can receive a "certification", our credentials are often longer than our names.

Do I really need to care that you have your MBA, PMP, MCSD, CCNA? Or that you have an MBA and CPA? Or a PhD and Esq? If I have your email, I am either communicating to you socially, and none of that matters, or I'm communicating with you professionally, and I have already determined to work with you...so none of it matters.

Do people honestly believe that broadcasting their credentials enhances the value of their message? What's next - IQ, physical measurements, the size of the last fish you caught? Enough!

Here is the reality: the most successful people I know, including the executives of the company I work for, sign their communications with their name or, as is often the case, just their initials. No title, no credentials.

The really important people in the world don't need to tell you how important they are. You already know.

***ADDED 03 June: Here is another take from a good friend and even better person, Peter Faur.