So most of us as professionals have aquired a few initials after our names. Some we pay for, others are earned.
Those that are paid for: Which do you get the most value from (CSI, AIA, SCIP, NCARB, etc)?
Those that you earned: Which are you the most proud of and why (CDT, CCS, LEED AP)?
Do all these intials mean anything to those we work for (clients and employers).
With limited time and resources I am looking toward my next professional goal and am interested in others opinions.
Paid for: CSI
Earned: CCS
I try to make sure that clients understand the value. My employers seem to get it; the last 4 have either required that I pursue the CCS or required it outright. But then, I write specs.
I’m a SCIP Affiliate and that’s next in value.
I’m an Associate AIA, and if I had to make a choice, that would be the one I’d drop.
I’m a LEED AP only because my employer insisted that as many people in the office as possible should be. It has little value to me; however, there are many people out there who seem to feel that it’s closer to God than cleanliness.
My kids joke - sort of - that I have more letters after my name than are in my name. Oh well…that’s the nature of this industry and probably the world in general. It doesn’t matter whether you passed the test by 1 point or got a perfect score - as long as you can add those letters, you prove to them that you have a value. Superficial? Yes, but I don’t know an alternative.
Pay for: CSI
Earned: CCS
Mean nothing to clients nor employers.
I’d go with RA which was both paid for [education] and earned [via 5-day written exam in the old days]
Also value CPCA and CBO both earned as building code official.
And of course, currently the CDT which in my instance was earned through the years of RA experience.
I think Assoc. AIA has the most influence on my clients. It shows them that I am “one of them”. For me, it’s probably CCS, since that is something I earned.
Come December, when I complete my Juris Doctor program,“JD” will be the one I am most proud of earning. Hopefully, I will follow that up with “Esquire” in the next year or two.
I agree with Lynn in that the most value comes from CSI and SCIP and the most pride from CCS. I dropped the Associate AIA several years ago because of my perceived lack of value to me. My CCS does mean something to my employer as well as to certain of our clients. Ive heard that LEED AP means more to clients when its the Principal in Charge of any given project rather than a whole bunch of project team members.
CSI Certifications are of real value and should be encouraged for all individuals that deal in the related categories: CCS for specifiers, CCPR for Product Representatives, and CCCA for Construction Contract Administrators. The CDT Certificate is of value to everyone who has earned it and to those few employers who know what it means. The real trick, in my humble opinion, is getting the folks who matter to understand and appreciate the value of your alphabet soup. Im lucky that mine do but it might take some self-promotion and marketing if yours dont.
The difference between CSI and AIA is that CSI is paid for solely; while membership in the AIA and the use of “AIA” initials is paid for, one cannot use “AIA” without having earned registration, and having a current registration.
Dave, unless you are “Assoc. AIA”
Most important to me: CCS, then CCCA. If I was a registered architect or P.E., that would probably be first.
I generally don’t highly value membership initials, though I may place very high value on the benefits of the organization. LEED AP–similar story to Lynn. Our firm wants to have lots of them, and I believe it is overvalued.
BA, BArch, MBA, NCARB, CSI, CCS, AIA, LEED AP, MAI, SCIP…
(Omitting RA since I am a member of AIA)
Definitely an E-I-E-I-O
Passing the architectural licensing exam was the culmination of a goal that was 12 years in the making. If and when I get dinged on for a lack of long term goals and focus, I have only to remember this achievement at what seem to me now to be an incredibly young age.
CSI is the professional/technical affiliation I have maintained the longest (30 years this last December); I have allowed my AIA membership to come and go. Have only been a member of SCIP since going independent 4 years ago. CSI and SCIP are where I find people with whom I share many values about “place making.”
CCS means a lot to me, and as I have matured as a design professional and a specification writer, it means more and more.
Am not quite as cynical about the LEED AP thing, but then we do find it of some use.
Am considering CCCA.
Would value FCSI because it means recognition from people who matter to me, and I percieve CSI to be more selective of their fellows than is AIA.
CSI’s order of precedence works for me: RA, FCSI, CCS, CCCA.
A lot went into that license, at, as Peter notes, a young age. I certainly wouldn’t want to go through that again!
I value the FCSI and CCS most, and they do have value to a few others. I see little value in LEED accreditation, though it appears to be much more marketable than the rest of my alphabet soup.
On that issue, I think USGBC has gone over the edge with their multitude of accreditation types, and continuing education requirements that are greater than those for maintaining a professional license. I had to laugh when I saw their twenty-six page trademark policy!
Gotta give 'em credit, though, they came up with a plan and marketed the bejeebers out of it.
We’re supposed to have letters after our name?
I was an interm member of the AATO (Association of Architectural Technologists of Ontario) but since the OAA (Ontario Association of Architects) governs the use of the title “Architectural Technologist” under the Architects Act and has always had a “we’re not giving you guys anything” type of attitude with the AATO I got tired of paying my membership dues when it got me diddly-squat!
Since I have started writing specs full time, I have re-joined CSC (Construction Specifications Canada - sister organization to CSI) and will be working my way towards my RSW (Registered Spec Writer - equivilent to CCS). I am also considering membership in CSI, but at this point am unsure of whether or not I would pursue CCS as it really doesn’t benefit me in Canada and being as unfamiliar with construction contracts in the States, not sure if I would be able to pass the exam on that basis.
There is also a CCCA designation available through CSC, but in the last 8 years at the firm I am currently employed by (5 years as CA, 3 years as Spec Writer/CA) nobody has ever spoken to me about getting that designation or any benefit to having it within my current employment.
This may be the jaded side of me coming out (especially after the day I had today…thank God for my winemaking club meeting tonight!) but it seems like generally in Canada (or at least specifically in my experience) unless you have a B.Arch or M.Arch and they are considering you for partnership, most firms couldn’t give a rat’s a$$ about any designations you have.
The only thing after my name on my business card is Dipl. Arch. Tech. (Diploma of Architectural Technology). After 20 years I also feel my resume speaks for itself.
In order of importance:
Registered Architect.
Certified Construction Specifier
Bachelor of Architecture
LEED AP - Way, way down the list (it’s on my business card only because my employer insists on it - I had purposely left it off for years because I am embarrassed to be associated with the rest of the flock with the same meaningless “credential.”)
Paul, thanks for reminding me of something I saw in a CSC’s alphabet soup. In her e-mail, her RSW appears as a link to the CSC website page that explains what an RSW is, like this - RSW. Perhaps that’s something all specifiers should consider.
I’ll also note that I use alphabet soup only as needed by the situation. If it’s my first e-mail to a client, I use the whole nine-line signature block (company policy). After that, it’s just name without soup, followed by firm and phone number for a while, and then name only. If I’m e-mailing as a CSI officer or committee member or the like, I do the same - start with a six-line block, then drop off to just my name after first contact.
I wish everyone would do that; I hate e-mail threads that are six pages long, almost all of it being half-page signature blocks - especially the ones with pictures and disclaimers.
Outlook includes an option to use one signature block for outgoing mail, and a second - presumably shorter - one for replies. That makes it easier to get the right size block, but some thought is occasionally required.
As for disclaimers, many offices blindly require the use of disclaimers even when their terms prevent productive use of the e-mail. Let’s think, people!
Thanks for that tip, Sheldon. I don’t have Outlook at work, but Thunderbird seems to have a similar option. I found and clicked on a button that seems to indicate that my signature will not be attached to replies. We’ll see what happens. I’ve often wanted to remove my full signature in that situation, but didn’t know I could.
Sheldon,
My Outlook is set up so signature line is not automatically included on emails forwarded or replied to. Helps to shorten things up.
Sheldon: It appears that RSW is the CSC equivalant of CCS. One of the requirements is that you be a member of CSC.
Richard: It’s only a rough equivalent. The requirements for RSW to way beyond those for CCS.
FCSI – which I believe is both paid for (in thirty years of dues and dinners) and earned (ditto). my clients may not know what CCS is (and explaining it doesn’t seem to help much) but they do understand the F in FCSI – “just like a Fellow in the AIA but different”.
its the only set of initials I use on my cards now.
And wiht Sheldon, I have to give the USGBC credit for creating what is essentially a mountain range out of what started as a manufacturer’s marketing strategy during a down economy.
I agree with Anne. I have FCSI on my cards and nothing else. When I first joined CSI (I was the second female member in Los Angeles), and became senior enough in my firm to get cards, I put CSI on them. I knew that CSI had arrived when reps, architects, etc., stopped asking me what CSI was.
Every trade association, every professional association, has a multiplicity of certifications, with initials for the people who meet their criteria. Certifications are in, but few know, besides the peers of those who have them, what the initials mean. Since it is important for us all to have the respect of our peers, this is OK by me. But maybe sometimes it goes a little far.
I was writing a spec. for duct cleaning a couple of weeks ago. There is an association of duct cleaners, and the sample I had limited the workers to people who have designation as Certified Duct Cleaner!
I have collected so many credentials that the string really looks quite silly. To an outsider, these strings probably make us appear to have big egos. Lately, I’ve been thinking about which ones to drop from my business card. The email signature could be taylored to the recipient.
After giving it some thought, CCS, CCCA, LEED AP are equivalent to a one semester college course and really pale in comparison to professional registration, advanced degrees, and fellowship. If I had to reprint my business card today, it would include NCARB, AIA, CSI.
As Philly Chapter President, I welcome you to Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley. The information which I submitted to CSI and Hanley Wood included my certifications, therefore you will hear them at the opening session and annual business meeting; however were among friends and colleagues. For those who have registered, I look forward to meeting Thursday evening at the Water Works.