However, a title that refers to an official, one-of-a-kind position, like the “Queen of England,” should be capitalized.
Note that this rule only holds true for titles that have been officially conferred or awarded. For instance, you would capitalize, “Professor Anita Brown,” “Judge Regina Blake,” and “President Flora Barnum,” but you would not capitalize titles like “artist,” “race car driver,” or “musician,” as in, “This song is performed by musician Louis Armstrong. ” Another way to determine if a job immediately preceding a person’s name should be capitalized is to consider if it’s a title or a description. That is, “Director of Marketing Joanna Russell” is correct if that’s Joanna’s official title. If you’re only describing her position, you wouldn’t capitalize her job: “marketing chief Joanna Russell. ”[4] X Research source
For example: “Can you make it to my graduation, Dad?” or “With all due respect, General, I disagree,” or “I saw the Queen of England ride by today. ” This rule also holds true for terms of respect, like “Your Honor” or “Your Highness”.
For instance, “Georgina Bourassa, the Barnaby G. Gray Professor of Circuses, taught for five years. ”
For example, “associate director of research and development for the cancer unit at Pharmacon” should be: “Associate Director of Research and Development for the Cancer Unit at Pharmacon. ” Networks (like ESPN) and journalism outlets (such as CNN) are great resources for determining which words should or should not be capitalized in a title.
For instance, “Janice Buckley is a microbiologist,” or “Here are some tips from painter John Green. ” In both cases, these job titles are being used to describe a profession rather than an official title, so they shouldn’t be capitalized.
For example, “John, who is a salesperson, works at the dealership,” or “The clerk helped us with the documents. ”
For example: “Jesse Roberts, editor in chief at Grammar Central, hates typos,” or “Helena Briggs, social worker with the NHS, is handling the case. ”
When you are applying for a specific position, many people are inclined to put that job title in uppercase in their cover letters: “I am writing to apply for the Assistant Professor of American Literature post at Bard College. ” If you do, be sure that you capitalize the other specific job titles included in your letter. The best way to help you decide which way to go is to look at the company’s job listing and website to see if they capitalize specific job titles that appear within sentences or not. If they do, then you should, too. Either way, remember that you should never capitalize general job titles in a sentence, such as, “I have more than twenty years of experiences as a director of human resources,” or “I am looking for a position as a campaign manager in the nonprofit sector. ”
