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Should professional, occupational and official titles be capped after a person's name?

Mike McCormack, Human Resources Director for the XYZ corporation, resigned on Friday.

If we use the definite article the, do we go lowercase?

Mike McCormack, the human resources director for the XYZ corporation, resigned on Friday.

The human resources director, Mike McCormack, resigned on Friday.

But:

Human Resources Director Mike McCormack resigned on Friday.

Are the four variations of the same sentence punctuated correctly?

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Yes to all (unless "The" is part of the title). A title is a proper name, so capitalize. If you substitute a description ("the director of human resources" or "the human resources department head") then do not capitalize.

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  • But in the example given 'Mike McCormack, the Human Remains Director, I would capitalise. However if I were simply to refer to the human-resources department in text, or to the need to appoint a human resources specialist, I probably wouldn't. It becomes a fine choice, but generally where a specific individual is referenced I would tend to capitalise.
    – WS2
    Commented Feb 25, 2014 at 19:52

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