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)