Comments on: Will you be a ‘Professional’? http://www.marcomblog.com/2007/01/28/will-you-be-a-professional/ Marcom - Marketing Communications :: PR/Marcom Pros Mentoring Students Fri, 25 Jul 2008 19:24:13 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.2 By: K.Barrett http://www.marcomblog.com/2007/01/28/will-you-be-a-professional/#comment-18153 K.Barrett Wed, 19 Sep 2007 15:51:39 +0000 http://www.marcomblog.com/2007/01/28/will-you-be-a-professional/#comment-18153 Earning a college degree in a particular field of study does not automatically make you a professional. When someone says you're a "pro" at something most of the time they are talking about being extremely good at a specific job or activity. Just because you sat in a classroom for four years learning about the in and outs of being a successful PR practitioner doesn't mean your going to be good at it once you actually enter the working world. Like Katy said, it takes extensive knowledge, experience, and talent to become a professional in any field. For example, a lawyer can take the LSAT, go to law school, and pass the bar exam, but it doesn't mean he or she is automatically going to be a good lawyer. If they get in the courtroom and can't think on their feet or formulate a challenging argument then according to their performance they're really not a professional. They are not a "pro" at what they do. Therefore, you need you be able to excel and succeed in any chosen career before reaching the level of a professional. Earning a college degree in a particular field of study does not automatically make you a professional. When someone says you’re a “pro” at something most of the time they are talking about being extremely good at a specific job or activity. Just because you sat in a classroom for four years learning about the in and outs of being a successful PR practitioner doesn’t mean your going to be good at it once you actually enter the working world. Like Katy said, it takes extensive knowledge, experience, and talent to become a professional in any field. For example, a lawyer can take the LSAT, go to law school, and pass the bar exam, but it doesn’t mean he or she is automatically going to be a good lawyer. If they get in the courtroom and can’t think on their feet or formulate a challenging argument then according to their performance they’re really not a professional. They are not a “pro” at what they do. Therefore, you need you be able to excel and succeed in any chosen career before reaching the level of a professional.

]]> By: Lee Hopkins http://www.marcomblog.com/2007/01/28/will-you-be-a-professional/#comment-9409 Lee Hopkins Wed, 28 Feb 2007 00:25:15 +0000 http://www.marcomblog.com/2007/01/28/will-you-be-a-professional/#comment-9409 Great comment, Katy! Great comment, Katy!

]]> By: KatyJameson http://www.marcomblog.com/2007/01/28/will-you-be-a-professional/#comment-9401 KatyJameson Tue, 27 Feb 2007 18:44:19 +0000 http://www.marcomblog.com/2007/01/28/will-you-be-a-professional/#comment-9401 I am in my first year of a degree course in Public Relations with French, and as much as I would love to think that PR is a profession, I just don't believe it. From your dictionary definitions, which so clearly define a profession as requiring detailed training, I don't think that anyone can argue PR deserves this status while there are still practitioners within the industry who barely even completed their A Levels. The standard out there is not particularly high and it seems anyone can bang out a press release and hit send. Yet I would like to think that one day I will be a professional in PR - because I don't see a professional as someone who is part of a profession. I believe that professional signifies experience, dedication and talent in their career, whatever that may be. So while I solemnly wave goodbye to the idea that I am entering into a well-trained, intensively-academically-prepared 'calling', I believe I can set my sights on becoming the best in my industry, with knowledge, training and talent to offer. I am in my first year of a degree course in Public Relations with French, and as much as I would love to think that PR is a profession, I just don’t believe it.
From your dictionary definitions, which so clearly define a profession as requiring detailed training, I don’t think that anyone can argue PR deserves this status while there are still practitioners within the industry who barely even completed their A Levels.
The standard out there is not particularly high and it seems anyone can bang out a press release and hit send.
Yet I would like to think that one day I will be a professional in PR - because I don’t see a professional as someone who is part of a profession. I believe that professional signifies experience, dedication and talent in their career, whatever that may be.
So while I solemnly wave goodbye to the idea that I am entering into a well-trained, intensively-academically-prepared ‘calling’, I believe I can set my sights on becoming the best in my industry, with knowledge, training and talent to offer.

]]> By: LeeHopkins http://www.marcomblog.com/2007/01/28/will-you-be-a-professional/#comment-8860 LeeHopkins Wed, 14 Feb 2007 04:57:47 +0000 http://www.marcomblog.com/2007/01/28/will-you-be-a-professional/#comment-8860 "We make a better dinner guest than an accountant any day." To me, that sums up the whole argument beautifully -- well done, Emily Anne! Remind me to take you to dinner when I eventually (one day) get over to Alabama [smile] “We make a better dinner guest than an accountant any day.”

To me, that sums up the whole argument beautifully — well done, Emily Anne! Remind me to take you to dinner when I eventually (one day) get over to Alabama [smile]

]]> By: Better Communication Results http://www.marcomblog.com/2007/01/28/will-you-be-a-professional/#comment-8808 Better Communication Results Tue, 13 Feb 2007 05:22:42 +0000 http://www.marcomblog.com/2007/01/28/will-you-be-a-professional/#comment-8808 [...] 08:28Lee has been called many things over the years, but is he a “professional?” The question has been keeping Allan up late at night (much to Mrs Coffee’s disgust). Jay Rosen and Shel Holtz raised the question a little while ago, Lee blogged about it over at the Marcom blog with interesting answers from Robert French’s PR students. Allan thinks that the question for being recognised as a ‘professional’ is a frustratingly silly one; Lee recalls his Sociology studies and attempts to sound authoritative by talking about the ‘Professional Project’. Both toss the ideas around about formal, legal accountability versus informal self-accreditation (including the IABC & PRSA), plus the difference between respect for the positional title and respect for the person. Allan suggests that accredited professionals have to go for re-examination or accreditation every, say, 5 years, in order to show that they are undergoing self-development and keeping their skills up to date. [...] […] 08:28Lee has been called many things over the years, but is he a “professional?” The question has been keeping Allan up late at night (much to Mrs Coffee’s disgust). Jay Rosen and Shel Holtz raised the question a little while ago, Lee blogged about it over at the Marcom blog with interesting answers from Robert French’s PR students. Allan thinks that the question for being recognised as a ‘professional’ is a frustratingly silly one; Lee recalls his Sociology studies and attempts to sound authoritative by talking about the ‘Professional Project’. Both toss the ideas around about formal, legal accountability versus informal self-accreditation (including the IABC & PRSA), plus the difference between respect for the positional title and respect for the person. Allan suggests that accredited professionals have to go for re-examination or accreditation every, say, 5 years, in order to show that they are undergoing self-development and keeping their skills up to date. […]

]]> By: Dana http://www.marcomblog.com/2007/01/28/will-you-be-a-professional/#comment-8806 Dana Tue, 13 Feb 2007 05:20:23 +0000 http://www.marcomblog.com/2007/01/28/will-you-be-a-professional/#comment-8806 To me being a professional is a mixture of your character and the skills you have learned from school. You don't just become a professional by going to college, but you have to apply what you have learned to life experiences and obstacles. A lot of time and energy is invested in becoming a professional at your job. It is unfortunate that some people are not willing to put in the effort in pursuing their desired career. It takes time to become a professional because you have to gain experience. With that being said, I don’t understand why people don’t see PR practioners as professionals. Practioners can be considered to be professional by judging their writing skills, how they handle crises and how they manage a campaign. It is crucial to have skills in all these areas. Once a practioner has obtained them, they should be considered a professional. To me being a professional is a mixture of your character and the skills you have learned from school. You don’t just become a professional by going to college, but you have to apply what you have learned to life experiences and obstacles. A lot of time and energy is invested in becoming a professional at your job. It is unfortunate that some people are not willing to put in the effort in pursuing their desired career. It takes time to become a professional because you have to gain experience.

With that being said, I don’t understand why people don’t see PR practioners as professionals. Practioners can be considered to be professional by judging their writing skills, how they handle crises and how they manage a campaign. It is crucial to have skills in all these areas. Once a practioner has obtained them, they should be considered a professional.

]]> By: CommsCafe.com » Chat #24: On pimping, podcast recording and professionalism http://www.marcomblog.com/2007/01/28/will-you-be-a-professional/#comment-8805 CommsCafe.com » Chat #24: On pimping, podcast recording and professionalism Tue, 13 Feb 2007 05:15:13 +0000 http://www.marcomblog.com/2007/01/28/will-you-be-a-professional/#comment-8805 [...] 08:28Lee has been called many things over the years, but is he a “professional?” The question has been keeping Allan up late at night (much to Mrs Coffee’s disgust). Jay Rosen and Shel Holtz raised the question a little while ago, Lee blogged about it over at the Marcom blog with interesting answers from Robert French’s PR students. Allan thinks that the question for being recognised as a ‘professional’ is a frustratingly silly one; Lee recalls his Sociology studies and attempts to sound authoritative by talking about the ‘Professional Project’. Both toss the ideas around about formal, legal accountability versus informal self-accreditation (including the IABC & PRSA), plus the difference between respect for the positional title and respect for the person. Allan suggests that accredited professionals have to go for re-examination or accreditation every, say, 5 years, in order to show that they are undergoing self-development and keeping their skills up to date. [...] […] 08:28Lee has been called many things over the years, but is he a “professional?” The question has been keeping Allan up late at night (much to Mrs Coffee’s disgust). Jay Rosen and Shel Holtz raised the question a little while ago, Lee blogged about it over at the Marcom blog with interesting answers from Robert French’s PR students. Allan thinks that the question for being recognised as a ‘professional’ is a frustratingly silly one; Lee recalls his Sociology studies and attempts to sound authoritative by talking about the ‘Professional Project’. Both toss the ideas around about formal, legal accountability versus informal self-accreditation (including the IABC & PRSA), plus the difference between respect for the positional title and respect for the person. Allan suggests that accredited professionals have to go for re-examination or accreditation every, say, 5 years, in order to show that they are undergoing self-development and keeping their skills up to date. […]

]]> By: Emily Anne http://www.marcomblog.com/2007/01/28/will-you-be-a-professional/#comment-8689 Emily Anne Sat, 10 Feb 2007 00:56:19 +0000 http://www.marcomblog.com/2007/01/28/will-you-be-a-professional/#comment-8689 The black sheep of the class and coming in last- I do not think that public relations is a profession. I know, and trust me, it hit me pretty hard when I realized it a couple years and countless word doc.s later. I came to this decision during my internship this past summer. I was a pr assistant within a huge corporation and I took one day to walk throughout several different departments and ask questions. Scattered throughout the cubicles of marketing, sales, copy editing, purchasing, etc were people who graduated in public relations. Most of them had a similar story: after graduation they grabbed the first job they could that fit their abilities and floated between new titles and varied tasks until they found what fit. We all did not become public relations majors to become pr practitioners like pre-meds all become doctors. We are majoring in public relations because it is what interests us. It’s more of a focus. We do it for the four years of discipline and improvement of our innate gift of gab and human interaction we all crave for our careers. And those careers, even within our small classroom, will be oh so broad . I am not saying that none of us will become hugely successful and professional practitioners. One thing I love about pr is that you can’t fake it. I truly believe that a practitioner will advance based upon their pure skill with words, writing and winning others over. (Which is why I get so discouraged when people tell you that good old fashion writing is out the window, and fragment-sentence blogging and lingo is where it’s at) So yes. It is a pain to know that no credentials are needed to be our co-worker, or for that matter, our superior. However, the freedom of picking up your laptop after a government campaign and starting a job in health communication is fabulous. Let the professions scoff and say we are a jack of all trades and king of none. We make a better dinner guest than an accountant any day. The black sheep of the class and coming in last- I do not think that public relations is a profession. I know, and trust me, it hit me pretty hard when I realized it a couple years and countless word doc.s later. I came to this decision during my internship this past summer. I was a pr assistant within a huge corporation and I took one day to walk throughout several different departments and ask questions. Scattered throughout the cubicles of marketing, sales, copy editing, purchasing, etc were people who graduated in public relations. Most of them had a similar story: after graduation they grabbed the first job they could that fit their abilities and floated between new titles and varied tasks until they found what fit.

We all did not become public relations majors to become pr practitioners like pre-meds all become doctors. We are majoring in public relations because it is what interests us. It’s more of a focus. We do it for the four years of discipline and improvement of our innate gift of gab and human interaction we all crave for our careers. And those careers, even within our small classroom, will be oh so broad .

I am not saying that none of us will become hugely successful and professional practitioners. One thing I love about pr is that you can’t fake it. I truly believe that a practitioner will advance based upon their pure skill with words, writing and winning others over. (Which is why I get so discouraged when people tell you that good old fashion writing is out the window, and fragment-sentence blogging and lingo is where it’s at)

So yes. It is a pain to know that no credentials are needed to be our co-worker, or for that matter, our superior. However, the freedom of picking up your laptop after a government campaign and starting a job in health communication is fabulous. Let the professions scoff and say we are a jack of all trades and king of none. We make a better dinner guest than an accountant any day.

]]> By: Katherine L. http://www.marcomblog.com/2007/01/28/will-you-be-a-professional/#comment-8505 Katherine L. Mon, 05 Feb 2007 18:50:23 +0000 http://www.marcomblog.com/2007/01/28/will-you-be-a-professional/#comment-8505 Lee, It's a little worrisome to think that I may not be considered a professional after working for three years toward a degree in public relations. I feel like we have really gained a good bit of practical knowledge that can be applied in a public relations career. Other similar majors on campus, like communication for example, focus more on theoretical learning, and don't steer students in a particular direction. Perhaps I won't feel like a professional in the first stage of my career, but I'm hoping that after working for a while as a pr practitioner I can not only call myself a professional, but that others will see me as a professional too. I think that pr practitioners should be personally responsible for creating and upholding a reputation that would suggest he or she is a professional. It's unfortunate that not all practitioners want to spend the time and energy it takes to have a high caliber of work. I only hope that I can maintain a reputation for myself and my work that will let others know that I am a professional. Lee,
It’s a little worrisome to think that I may not be considered a professional after working for three years toward a degree in public relations. I feel like we have really gained a good bit of practical knowledge that can be applied in a public relations career. Other similar majors on campus, like communication for example, focus more on theoretical learning, and don’t steer students in a particular direction.

Perhaps I won’t feel like a professional in the first stage of my career, but I’m hoping that after working for a while as a pr practitioner I can not only call myself a professional, but that others will see me as a professional too.

I think that pr practitioners should be personally responsible for creating and upholding a reputation that would suggest he or she is a professional. It’s unfortunate that not all practitioners want to spend the time and energy it takes to have a high caliber of work. I only hope that I can maintain a reputation for myself and my work that will let others know that I am a professional.

]]> By: Hayley http://www.marcomblog.com/2007/01/28/will-you-be-a-professional/#comment-8479 Hayley Mon, 05 Feb 2007 06:13:27 +0000 http://www.marcomblog.com/2007/01/28/will-you-be-a-professional/#comment-8479 Defining a professional is a task that sometimes becomes messy and can be a tangled web of different definitions/accomplishments. People often feel that if they accomplish their own set list of goals and expectations that they are automatically deemed a professional in their career. Others feel that if they rise above others in their career, then they are a professional in what they do. I feel that a professional works and strives beyond their education, practice of work and level of abilities - a true professional has strong education within a deep-rooted passion for their area of expertise and they never stop learning or improving their abilities. I do agree with Lee that many could argue that pr and business communications are not professions because anyone can do it; however pr is a profession when individuals practice it with all of their knowledge, skills, ethics, determination, and thirst to never stop learning. It is up to the individual if they want to achieve the title of a professional. When I graduate in August this year, I want to not only receive a piece of paper stating I have a Bachelor of Arts in public relations, but I want to prove to my family, friends, and the public that pr majors can and do make a good difference in business, communications, and all organizations. My family and several friends don't understand public relations and think it is the most nonsense major ever! With not so many good odds towards us, it will be difficult to show the professional side of our major. Personally, I am tired of people thinking pr in nonsense and that I can not make a difference in my life or the business world with my major - but if we, as pr majors, want to show the world that we can be professionals we must be ready to act and work as ones. It will not be easy to explain to the business world and my family that I am part of a profession, but I know they will begin to see the professionalism when they actually take a look at the work that we as pr students do. Defining a professional is a task that sometimes becomes messy and can be a tangled web of different definitions/accomplishments. People often feel that if they accomplish their own set list of goals and expectations that they are automatically deemed a professional in their career. Others feel that if they rise above others in their career, then they are a professional in what they do. I feel that a professional works and strives beyond their education, practice of work and level of abilities - a true professional has strong education within a deep-rooted passion for their area of expertise and they never stop learning or improving their abilities. I do agree with Lee that many could argue that pr and business communications are not professions because anyone can do it; however pr is a profession when individuals practice it with all of their knowledge, skills, ethics, determination, and thirst to never stop learning. It is up to the individual if they want to achieve the title of a professional. When I graduate in August this year, I want to not only receive a piece of paper stating I have a Bachelor of Arts in public relations, but I want to prove to my family, friends, and the public that pr majors can and do make a good difference in business, communications, and all organizations. My family and several friends don’t understand public relations and think it is the most nonsense major ever! With not so many good odds towards us, it will be difficult to show the professional side of our major. Personally, I am tired of people thinking pr in nonsense and that I can not make a difference in my life or the business world with my major - but if we, as pr majors, want to show the world that we can be professionals we must be ready to act and work as ones. It will not be easy to explain to the business world and my family that I am part of a profession, but I know they will begin to see the professionalism when they actually take a look at the work that we as pr students do.

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