What does it take to be professional?

What does it take to be professional?

JAKARTA (JP): We know what it means, but sometimes it's hard
to put into words what it is to be professional.

Here are some views on being professional, and the obstacles
which sometimes get in the way.

Rini Moerjono, 33, promotions manager for a jewelry company:

There is a difference between our responsibilities in being
professional and loyalty to the office, but sometimes people here
get caught between our Eastern values and being professional, the
personal and the professional. It's hard for us, even though,
like it or not, we sometimes have to make an unpleasant decision.
We should be firm, but feelings enter into it and it ends up that
we can't say no. We're still using our feelings when someone who
is professional should be able to put them aside ...

I think it must be hard if people are professional but working
in an unprofessional environment. It's not easy; there are a lot
of disturbances when people around them are not professional. For
example, other people go home early and try to get you to do the
same thing. It's easy to lose your enthusiasm for the job. I
think you either decide to stay in the job and try to be
professional, or you have to look for new work in a more
professional place.

George Pattian, 61, a corporate affairs general manager for a
telecommunications company: I think that even though the
development is not that significant, people in the middle sector,
what we've come to call yuppies, have come to realize the
importance of being professional in the global market. They know
that they have to catch up if they want to get a job, here or
abroad.

I think it (the development) is phenomenal in finance, and
also in property and banking ... you can also see it in the
advertising sector, where companies seek out people who are
experienced but not too old. The environment is what pushes us to
develop. A person who likes a challenge will thrive in a
challenging job; someone who is professional does not want a
stable situation but a dynamic one. We want people in business
who are not troublemakers, but also do not want to be over-
controlled.

It may seem like a small thing, but I see professionalism in
other ways, too. For instance, we go to the bank, and the teller
is very professional. We are given an allotted amount of time,
and if we're a bit uncertain, they help us out by giving
recommendations. So they're professional, too.

Batara Siagian, 40, distribution and sales director at
Citibank: It's very simple -- you have to go back to what the
word means in relation to professional standards, character and
integrity. If we say someone is professional, it means he has
integrity and is competent; it's as basic as the word itself. In
layman's terms, it's the difference between being professional or
amateurish in competency and character, because there is a value
that society recognizes.

The qualities can be in an athlete, an executive, the man in
the street. If you are a good satpam (security guard) then you
are a professional one. Everybody, irrespective of their job, can
earn that title ...

It comes from within; nobody is going to stop you from being
professional. If you are in a stagnant job, then you'll look
outside to one with challenges. The old saying "if it ain't broke
don't fix it" actually promotes stagnancy. You have to earn the
title of being a professional, but structural things, like
salary, job satisfaction, are important, too.

Part of being professional is to be assertive and people are
becoming more critical, asking more questions. I can see it with
my children. It applies to the corporate world. For challenges,
we need to ask questions, improve -- or otherwise we will be
eaten up by the competition.

Benny, 25, a sergeant in the Army: We're a nationalist army,
not a professional army. If there is a damaged bridge and we
happen to be in the area, we will probably be called upon to fix
it. In America, you wouldn't do that -- you would call the
special corps to take care of it. American soldiers know their
position and what they are supposed to do, but if we get called
upon to help with something, we have to do it. In that way, we're
just coolies in uniform ...

Maybe there are individuals in the Army who are professional,
but generally it's not the case. The standards are getting higher
today, like you have to have a high school degree to get in,
while in my father's day, any diploma, even one from elementary
school, was enough. But I think in this country we cannot have a
professional army, we're not liberal and free enough to handle
that ... Increasing the salaries wouldn't lead to more
professional troops; you'd still have soldiers being security
guards to earn a little extra.

The other thing is that a lot of people, including me, become
soldiers just to get a job. It's not like we sincerely want to be
in the Army. If you tell a soldier to go out on a training run,
if he really wants to be a soldier he'll have no problem with it
because he realizes this is what he has to do. But those who only
joined because they need a job will go hide in the toilet, or
start complaining after five minutes. (brc)