ARE YOU A PROFESSIONAL? THEN SHOW IT!

I will not say that it is easy to achieve professionalism but I am saying if you try you might bring out the best in your career and that will be a big bonus for you. Work involves a lot of people, different cultures and many other factors out our control but making the effort is always worthwhile.

 Professionalism is defined the conduct, aims, or qualities that characterize or mark a profession or a professional (the person). So holding the job you have makes you a professional and you should show that you are a one.

Here are a few basic points to guide you as you exhibit your professionalism:

Know your profession and always develop your knowledge base

You must be intellectually aware of what is expected of you in your job and carry out your tasks knowledgeably. Be able to help colleagues who have problems in relation to your profession and just hold a sensible and intelligent conversation with regard to your profession.

Living in a dynamic world it means change is always coming fast for you to remain a justifiable professional in any field whatsoever you have to keep abreast with the change, read, take advancement courses or be part of professional forums and share ideas.

Hold on to your Integrity

Be honest in your dealings. As a professional, your employer and associates should be able to trust you to carry out your job with integrity and not worry about having to carry out investigations over and over again or appoint watch dogs. You should be able to earn the trust of all those people working with you.

Be Competent and Accountable

Do you have a job to do? Then give it your best, adhere to all the procedures in place, work to meet the deadlines and if you cannot do so, communicate to the concerned do not give unnecessary excuses give alternative solutions, that is competency and it is vital for an task.

Whatever your actions and decisions, be ready to speak for them. Now, speak here does not include blame games and excuses. It involves explaining what happened and why…if it is not possible, apologize and work on a correction or alternatives and that makes you accountable and keeps you in check.

Be Approachable and polite

Whoever you come in contact with should feel comfortable and dignified dealing with you regardless of whatever other status they may have. It will not do you any harm to be polite and being approachable might actually help you get a lot of information.

Look professional – image is something

Professionals look professional!  They're polished, and they dress appropriately for the situation. Because of this, they exude an air of confidence, and they gain respect. Dressing down or semi-casual has nothing to do with being slipshod and unkempt.

This is just the skeleton of a bigger system but if you get and work on the basics the rest begin growing on. It is not an easy thing to do but it is a worthy effort so let us start working on it.