When to use a doctoral title Last year, I finished and defended my doctoral thesis in a STEM field, and have continued working as a researcher in academia since. I am proud of my doctoral work, yet I feel somewhat uneasy about flaunting my newly earned title and refrain from doing so in general.

All senior people in my field have doctoral degrees, so it doesn't really signify anything. Besides, often when people use their title it seems like they do it to show they are an authority of sorts (Dr. Phil and Dr. Oz, for instance). In my field of work that doesn't get you very far; if you're full of baloney people will realize in minutes. 

I'm also hesitant about signing off e-mails as a Dr.; there's usually some back and forth with suppliers we work with, for instance. We really depend on their technical experience and I wouldn't want to come across as pretentious or elitist.

My basic question is this: in your experience, what are good circumstances to use ones doctoral title?
This may vary by country. I'm in the US, and use mine rather rarely. As you say, senior researchers all have PhDs (or MS + many years' experience), so it's hardly something significant in such contexts. I also don't use it in personal correspondence (e.g., bank paperwork) since that might lead to confusion about being an MD ("real doctor"). So what's left?


CV and other biographical documents
e-mail signature
formal presentations and documents (e.g., grant proposals)
anything related to undergraduate teaching


Note, professors might use "Prof." rather than "Dr." for all of these, particularly in contexts where it is obvious that professors are a subset of doctors.