Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Are You Professional?

Being professional doesn’t just mean working in the corporate arena or working in the academe. It doesn’t necessarily mean that if you have a degree or if you did graduates studies that you are automatically a professional. For me being a professional is what is within the person.

You may just be a small vendor or a mere salesperson in a small boutique and be professional. Even janitors and waitresses can be called professionals. Again, it is not on the work that you do but it is what each person is and how the person handles his or her job.

Let’s say that you are a writer. You would have projects and assignments and you have a deadline for each of them. You usually produce good work and everybody says that you have the talent. However, you are almost always late in submitting the assignments given to you. You never meet your deadlines. That is being unprofessional on your part.

On the other hand, let’s say that this person is a bagger at the local grocery. He never entered a semester of college but he’s always cheerful and polite to the customers. He gladly assists customers who need his assistance. And he is very efficient on his job.

Another example is this taxi driver who was on his way home one night to the north end of city when a passenger hailed him. This passenger was going to the opposite side of the city but he still drove the guy down to his destination without complaining. It so happened that this passenger was perhaps tired and was in a hurry to step out of the taxi that he left his clutch bag full of money. The taxi driver upon he reaching home found this bag and the money in it. There were also several identifications cards inside it so he immediately called the guy up and arranged that they meet the following day. When they met, the passenger offered him a reward but he refused to take. He said it is just part of his job to drive the guy down to his destination and to return anything that is left inside his taxi.

You see, this taxi driver could have refused and made an alibi that he was on his way home, or he could have merely just not stopped when he was hailed by the customer. But instead he stopped and did service for the passenger. He also did not take advantage of the situation to extort money from the guy. He just did his duty as a taxi driver even at the most inconvenient time.

This could only mean one thing. Being professional does not really depend on one’s educational attainment or one’s job but it depends on how a person is on his or her job and on whether a person does his or her duty properly and even goes an extra mile to be of service to others.

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