Saturday, October 24, 2009
Professionalism and Philosophy
I’ve noticed that people think that you only have to act professional in a business office setting. I worked with a friend at Outback who was also a UCF student that told me she ignored everyone because she doesn’t have to be professional in a restaurant. Another co-worker who served as a manager (key) some shifts told me she acted different as a key and a server because she could. As a server she didn’t do all of her work, but as a Key, she demanded everyone do theirs. It was appalling to me. Being professional and having work ethics carries over to any job. What constitutes being professional does depend on the environment, but certain aspects are consistent. You should be polite to all co-workers, you should give 100% and find the importance in all jobs that are required and requested of you. Show incentive. If you are going to work for the paycheck only, you are in the wrong field and I can guarantee you aren’t giving your all. I’ve always wondered why people go to work and complain every day. We all have bad days; I understand. But for everyday to be so emotionally draining would be devastating to me. I always try to find some middle ground with co-workers. I am not there to be friends, but it is important to see each person as someone like you. Meaning, they have their own personal life, too. They are not just the person who always leaves a mess when making coffee. They might have more to offer than always wanting to switch shifts. My career goals are constantly evolving. I’ve stayed consistent since I’ve decided to become a nurse. That has been since 2007. However, the years from 1999 until then were pretty up in the air. I was just kind of going with the flow of what opportunities came to me. It was an epiphany for me to realize I didn’t have to do what I was doing. Even with a family, with children, I could make it work to become who I wanted to be. Liberating!! I hope you all realize that your path will take you on many adventures and will help you determine some goals, but your path does not mandate the future. My feelings about my work ethic can be considered interdisciplinarian if I sit and make it do so. I think everything has some interdisciplinary aspect to it to some degree. I think you should concentrate on work, but be social to co-workers. I think you should have empathy for your boss’ responsibilities, but expect to be treated properly. I think there is a direct correlation with liking your job and the amount of effort you put forth. Also, I think being professional is a state of mind and applies to any job in any environment. What do you think? Are there jobs that don’t require your professional attitude?
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I am so glad when I hear that people are working jobs because they actually want to. Many times, especially in school settings, I hear people talking about their majors and careers as an obligation rather than a passion. I am one of the fortunate ones who has also found a passion in Audiology. I was in an audiology and rehab retreat when I saw a video about cochlear implants, when I had my AHA moment. I instantly fell in love with the idea that I could grant people with the gift of hearing. I was pursuing an RN at that time, but I could not have been happier to change to pursue graduate work in Audiology. I have been working as a Hearing Technician for almost 2 years, and I still feel excited to go to work. I am so excited to continue my career in Audiology!!
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to my professional life, my philosophical ideals are very similar to those concerning my social morals. I believe that while in a professional setting, just as in a social setting, you need to treat people with respect and carry out your own actions the way you expect others to act. One of my biggest pet-peeves is when people contradict themselves by telling one person to do something and then later on not following through with the action themselves.
ReplyDeleteThis philosophy is an example of interdisciplinary because although you have to be more of a conservative and professional person in the workplace, you still have to be warm and friendly, may it be towards customers, guests or just co-workers. Same goes for most social settings, although you are usually a little more outgoing and gregarious, you have to make sure to act appropriately in your surroundings.
My career goals have definitely altered as I’ve gotten older an have gotten closer to my career. When I got my first job as a Publix cashier at the age of 14, I strictly did it for the money and didn’t enjoy it that much. I have grown to see that although a lot of times you have to do stuff you don’t want to, I at least want to get a career in life that I know I’m going to enjoy.
Stephanie, I like your reference to your social morals. I agree that you should always treat people with respect and "practice what your preach." It's easy to fall into a routine with co-workers that you are around for so much of the day. You forget sometimes that you wouldn't know most of these people if it weren't for work and take for granted that you might not know much about them or their "normal" temperaments. I've been fortunate to work in many settings from casual in a restaurant to very professional with strict codes of conduct. I've learned a lot and truly see the interdisciplinary aspects of keeping neutral in all settings. Great posts.
ReplyDeleteUpholding a level of professionalism is important in any occupation. It doesn't matter if you are a cashier at McDonald's or the President of the United States: maintaining a professional attitude at one's job sets a stable foundation for the workplace. It is essential in maintaining positive employer-employee relationships and running the business overall. It may be difficult to keep this mindset at all times, especially when this is not the case with everyone else. For example, I've dealt with my share of unfriendly and rude customers as a Target sales floor person. I had to do my best to control my temper and handle the matter accordingly. When I was a hostess at a dinner restaurant, my manager asked me to find girls who may be interested in being a hostess as well. He told me to only ask attractive girls. I felt this was unprofessional on many levels, so I just asked whoever I thought might be interested. Consumers and patients will only put their trust in skilled and proficient businesses. I think many people underestimate the significance of sustaining a professional work environment. When it comes down to it, it preserves the integrity of the vocation.
ReplyDeleteJillian, well said. I like the mention of professionalism in the context of dealing with an employer. That might be the most difficult situation of all; holding back because it's your employer. It's like being a small child in the way that you can't talk back. You have to be respectful, even if they aren't, and maintain composure. There are always legal actions for extreme cases, but really, it's just out there. It's part of being an employee. There is always that one boss that just talks to people any way he wants and expects total respect in return. So wrong. I'm not saying to allow people to treat you badly because it's the norm. I'm saying you most definitely will have an employer that might not act they way you feel is appropriate. It's just difficult sometimes.
ReplyDeleteI agree, professionalism is one of the main aspects of any job. I definitely agree that it shouldn't matter what type of job it is, every job requires at least some type of proffesionalism whether it involves dealing with a coworker, employer, or customer. If we don't practice proffesionalism with coworkers, this often carries over to interactions with clients or customers. I've noticed this in my workplace, even though it requires definite proffesionalism, my coworkers and I interact on a more casual level. I try to seperate these two and make sure I appear proffesional at all times, not just with clients as these two types of interactions shouldn't be mixed. Also, even if a current job doesn't require the strictest code of conduct, acting professionally should still be done. This can provide good practice for future jobs, where the atmosphere can be completely different. Also, acting professionally can stand out to an employer who may have to recommend you for a different position in the future. This reminds me of the importance of being professional even in a school setting. How we interact with fellow students and professors should be professional. For example, in many online classes, there are online discussions, where students should still maintain a sense of professionalism. Again, this is good practice for work ethic later, where you might be emailing with an employer or coworker. Acting as a professional at all times can stand out to people, and might just be the difference between getting a job or not.
ReplyDeleteI agree. At any job I've had, there has always been recurrent characters. There is the perpetual whiner, the brown-noser (who only tries to befriend the boss), the quiet type who just is there to work with no social interaction, the late guy, the person with super amounts of talent but no drive. . . You see where I'm going. It has applied across the board for me. It's kind of fun to think of them. Do you find a similar pattern? If so, we can learn to work beside these people. I wonder who I would be????
ReplyDeleteRhonda, I cannot agree more with your generalizations about co-worker personalities. In every position I have held, I knew someone of each personality type that you mentioned. I know who I try to be in a work environment, but I wonder what people view me as. I am sure the people who do fit into the categories of each personality in the work place does not intentionally do so. So it is kind of hard to identify our own outlook on our personality types.
ReplyDeleteAnother aspect of professionalism that is rarely discussed is in an online environment. I recently read an article about the influences of some social networks, like Facebook and Myspace, are being highly incorportated into medical settings. Professionalism should be implemented in all aspects of life, especially if someone plans to have a high profile career. Many people are into "googling" people's names recently. Things like blogs and comments on webpages are included in search results. That is similar to a hard copy of someone's personality. Professionalism should be considered in all aspects of life. Going into the healthcare field, I do not want patients to think of me any differently due to my life outside of the office.
ReplyDeleteReshma,
ReplyDeleteThis is a very important point you've brought up. I have also heard of many employers googling candidates names to see what kind of life style they live. If anyone has a facebook/myspace/twitter it can be very beneficial to keep it on a private setting. I have mine on private fore this reason and also so random "weirdos" don't find me online.
Rhonda, I like the idea you brought out about the different personalities or groups we classify our coworkers as and then thinking about how they would classify us. It's interesting because how we view our coworkers can really drive how we interact with them. For example, if someone doesn't seems as motivated to get things done, you may just choose to do an assignment yourself instead of asking for their input/help on it. But maybe their input would be extremely valuable, because they are very talented individuals. The reason we may not ask them could be due to one time where they turned in something late. I think another part of proffesionalism is realizing that things happen sometimes and we shouldn't categorize people based on one event such as coming in late or not being present for a meeting. While this is definitely annoying when it frequently happens, we have to learn to deal with things happening and understanding them. We would like the same respect from coworkers I think.
ReplyDeleteThat's a big thing nowadays: employers checking myspaces and facebooks. One has to be very careful with what is put up on these sites. I see alot of people putting up provacative pictures as well as gang related. I see people plastering their backgrounds with marijuana and using explicit music on their page. These are things you can lose a potential job over. I always make sure I don't have anything on my personal web pages that I don't want to be seen by employers or family. In this day and age, employers are using technology to their advantage.
ReplyDeleteFemke, what you are referring to is called the Fundamental Attribution Error. It is when we place blame on someones personal attributes, and not the situation while attributing our own mistakes to situations and not personal attributes! So important, they called it Fundamental!!!! ;) Speaking of facebook and such. I had a member of the children's family that had requested to be a "friend" to the myspace page my husband made for my son. He is in ninth grade. We only let him view it with us in the room. Anyway, this person had drug paraphenalia on their page and sexual references. Suffice to say, I removed our son's page. A great point is being made. Our private lives are our own, but when you allow it on the internet, all bets are off. My mother always said, "if you don't want EVERYONE to know something, don't tell ANYONE." I think we can extrapolate a lesson from that for online social networking, too.
ReplyDeleteAlso, our next post is up! It should be a good one for stories and conversations about interviews. . . I've had some doozies.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the importance of really watching what you post about yourself online. This reminded me of another big idea someone had mentioned to me. It's important to have your voicemail on your phone sound professional as well. Having an unprofessional message can be a real turn off to potential employers. Also, having a professional sounding email is important. Overall, I think jobs require professionalism in all regards, not just in the workplace or when interviewing with a future employer.
ReplyDeleteOh wow, I didn't even consider my voicemail. That's a very good point. I always leave my cell phone number with potential employers. My message isn't very professional, but it could be worse. I just quickly stated my name and said "Leave a message." Perhaps I should make some changes to it. I've heard very silly voicemail messages and even I think it's a bit much.
ReplyDeleteThose are all great points and great advise. I use a separate email for non-friends/family members for this reason. Just a side note, as a safety precaution, if you live by yourself you should say use "we" instead of "I" to let callers know you aren't alone. Just a helpful hint. Speaking of email . . .It is hard in this day and age (my, I sound old) with texting and all, we should remember to always use proper grammar and spelling in emails and work texts to remain professional. It's just tacky otherwise. I'm sure you've all heard that before. See you on the next post.
ReplyDelete