Aah, professionalism, the vagueist term in any industry. Can anyone truely describe what it is, or will the concept remain abstract and undefinable? I don't know but I feel like writing about it because I find it rather offensive to turn people away from jobs, just because the don't look like the stereotypical "professional person." Lets begin.
RANT TIME! Episode 7: What is professionalism?
Such a distracting and annoying concept. Professionalism is a joke. People use it as an excuse not to hire people. People use it as an excuse to say "you aren't skilled enough." Professionalism is a term people use and mold at their will. It changes from person to person. To be quite honest, I think the whole concept is bullshit.
For instance, take 2 men, both age 25 and both have a PhD ins Biological Engineering and the same exact amount of experience in the field. Just say for instance they won the same awards and what not. The ONLY difference is one dresses in a suit and is clean shaven and the other is simply a gruff looking guy who prefers to wear street clothes. Now, when you look at it, both guys apply for the same job, have the same credentials and what not. They both go in for an interview. Both of them get the job.
Lets change the situation a little bit, Lets add a 5 years experience to gruff guy, and Suit guy only has 1 year experience in the field. Suit guy goes in, gruff guy goes in. They both interview. Suit guy gets hired. And it all because Suit guy is wearing a suit. Not because he is experience in the field, not because he won awards, not because he has a PgD in Biological engineering. The Gruff guy gets left high and dry. Now I say that situation is bullshit, because both of the men are just as experience as the other, both communicate just as well and what not (lets just say they are like twins). Just because a man is wearing a suit, should not make the difference between getting a job, and NOT getting a job. That is media stereotype bullshit. Why should someone get a job just because they look nicer than someone else? That is not fair, nor does it acknowledge the "Equal opportunity employment" standards that most companies acknowledge.
Shouldn't professionalism be how you handle yourself in a situation? Taking smooth action to conquer an obstacle that is thrown at you? NOT, based on appearance and how you talk? Yes i think so. Professionalism i believe is something that is spur of the moment. You are professional when you have to be. No one can be professional all the time, if that were the case we would be...utterly perfect. The stereotypical professional view that society has, makes us be something we are not in some cases. A kind of slave to conformity. No one should have to conform to any standards to get a job. No one should have to pretend to be something they are not just to survive in this world. It withholds who we are.
I guess it fall in line with the idea that "THERE IS NO NORM." Nothing can truely fall into a "Normal" category, because we as humans choose what is normal. Technically the closest we can come to "normal" is Average. That in-between state among all things. We should not allow things to prevent us from being us, because its "not normal" its "not professional."
Professionalism, is an abstract concept that people can simply mold to "filter out" what they do not want. If you were a CEO and you hired only people whom wore suits, you could be royally screwed if you are judging people to hire based on suits because for all you know they could have no experience at all, but because they had a suit on and a resume (not necessarily a good one) they got the job.
Point? Professionalism, is an abused joke.
Peace
