"I'm a professional [insert job title here]." Ummm. No. Actually, you're not...
Most people would like to be able to brag about their job title. Given that many of us spend more of our waking hours slogging away at some or other form of work (in order to create revenue) than with our loved ones, it’s generally quite important to like that work. When you can’t say that you like your work, it’s at least pleasing to be able to throw a fancy sounding job title around when people enquire as to what you do, you know – to make you feel slightly less like a gear that helps to turn the wheel and more like the actual wheel. So a pizza delivery driver could say that he’s a “transportation specialist for edible resources of Italian origin”. I think that the latter sounds a bit more impressive.
These extravagantly concocted titles make just about any normal job description sound, well, normal. Being a member of recognised profession is no longer sufficient for one to sound professional. In my case, I’m qualified as a pharmacist and when people ask me about my job, I say that I work as a pharmacist. If I’m feeling like I need to throw my weight around because I’m “just a pharmacist”, I’ll say that I’m a clinical pharmacologist (doesn’t that sound interesting?) since I have a Master’s degree in pharmacy, with clinical pharmacology being my specialisation. I don’t actually work as a clinical pharmacologist, but it’s a title which I feel that I am entitled to. But not everybody is a part of a recognised profession, and having a profession sounds a lot more impressive than having an occupation, thus there are many people who will say that they are a “professional <insert job description here>”.
What it means to be a professional may depend on the field that you’re working in. A general definition is that a profession is a paid occupation which involves prolonged training and requires a formal qualification. But definitions become somewhat blurry. In most cases, people are considered to be professionals when they have done something in accordance with an accepted standard as confirmed by others (generally experts in the applicable field), such as when one graduates from college or university or when a sportsman is awarded provincial or national colours. Yet people who work as electricians undergo extensive training and have formal exams, but their jobs are generally referred to as “trades” rather than professions. Then there are those who simply believe that a brief period of training to develop basic ability which can then be used to generate revenue means that one can become a professional in just a few weeks. Or that one can simply provide any kind of premium service and then call himself a professional. So every entrepreneur out there can start generating those oh-so-catchy job titles described above and call herself a professional… Just because one conducts one’s self in a professional manner, does not mean that one’s line of work can actually be considered a profession.
The problem with these blurred lines and the overuse of the word “professional” is that it becomes hard to distinguish true professionals from the run-of-the-mill entrepreneur or occupational office worker. It becomes especially difficult for people wanting to make money from art. Why? Because unlike my profession, where one needs to have the theoretical and practical knowledge in order to function, art is subjective and the quality of an artist’s product could be considered greater or lesser depending on the person paying for it. It would be very difficult to walk into a dispensary wearing a white dispensing jacket and pretend to be a pharmacist, especially when one has be registered with a regulating body in order to practice the profession, but just about anyone can pick up a camera, snap a couple of pictures and try to sell them. Whether or not those pictures are worth the photographic paper that they’ve been printed onto is, as I said, subject to the interpretation of the artist and the client. The same way that just about anyone could don dancer’s apparel, “bust a few moves” and call herself a professional <insert dance form here> dancer. Both examples given are artistic pursuits which many people can aspire to and many people do have natural talents in these art forms. The difference comes in between those who choose to entertain their unpolished abilities by selling their unfinished products and those who choose to put in the time and effort to develop those raw talents and enlighten themselves to the multifaceted nature that is their chosen art form. Does wearing a belly dancing outfit and shaking your hips mean you’re a professional dancer? Does having an expensive camera and photo editing software mean you’re a professional photographer? No, it means you’re assuming attributes associated with those professions and think that having the equipment or looking the part makes you a professional.
I’ve singled out these two art forms because I have personal experience with both professional photographers and professional dancers… and those who are under the misassumption that they can call themselves professionals because they’re using the art forms to make money.
My husband is a photographer, a professional photographer. I feel that he owns that title because he spent several years studying towards a qualification in photography from a tertiary level institution. That being said, I also know of other professional photographers who don’t have that endorsement from a recognised tertiary institution. Those photographers are the ones who did apprenticeships, who learnt the trade while working under the instruction of one or many other experienced photographers in order to develop their skills. Then there are the “fauxtographers”. The ones who, for many varying reasons, decided to start working as camera shutter activators. Why do I call them camera shutter activators? Because these are the “photographers” who think that photography as an art form (or a profession) is limited to snapping a picture. All the various aspects that an actual professional would consider (such as lighting, white balance, focal length of the lens, shutter speed, aperture, ISO settings, location, composition – to name but a few!) are things that they probably have an extremely basic understanding of. Or they may have learnt a few things about these technical considerations, but the shallowness of their knowledge is showcased by the lack of variety in their work. Or there is the extreme, the “photographers” who think that using digital photo editing software makes them professionals. Applying a few filters and inserting an artsy solar flare to an otherwise terrible photograph can make it appealing and, therefore, a product of a professional. Using a paint brush might mean that you are, at the time of using that paint brush, a painter. It does not mean that you are an artist. By the same logic, using a camera to create a photograph does not make you an artist. The talent, skill and expertise used when working with that piece of equipment to produce art makes you an artist.
Belly dancing… I started attending belly dancing classes in 2009. I now attend “advanced level” classes. I am not a professional dancer. I do, however, occasionally dance at functions and am accordingly paid when I do so. I do not receive personal requests to dance, my dance teachers will ask me to perform for certain events when a client has contacted the studio for the purpose of hiring performers. My teachers will decide if the level of skill that I have is appropriate for the event and will ensure that I am performance ready. My teachers have been learning the dance form for many years, have attended various workshops from both local and internationally recognised belly dancers and have done specific teaching courses. Their group experience isn’t limited to these examples. They are constantly researching and learning more about the dance form and sharing their knowledge. But there is another “professional” belly dancer living in my area. She claims to be a professional dancer, she has her own studio and teaches belly dancing. She, however, has no formal qualification to teach this dance form and did not spend a great amount of time learning the dance form from appropriately trained and qualified teachers before opening up her own studio. This woman learnt the basics, rushed through the props and then decided to start dancing “professionally” with her raw dancing talent, her shallow knowledge of the dance form and her absolute lack of dancing-style technique. This woman has ruined the image of belly dancing in my area, with many people thinking that belly dancing simply involves shaking one’s hips, gyrating and wearing revealing outfits. The onus is on my teachers, my fellow students and other dance studios to reclaim the image of the dance form. To show people what being a belly dancer is, especially one who performs professionally.
A profession is something you’ve worked towards, something you’ve earned. Not something you decide to do one day and “qualify” to do in the space of a few weeks. Why is it important to distinguish? Because calling one’s self a professional when one’s work really isn’t of the acceptable standard taints the perception of everyone else daring to call him or herself a professional. Or it cheapens another person’s greater level of skill, expertise and knowledge – reduces it to that of any other person with less than half of those attributes. If you have the raw talent and the passion, then develop it. If you’re not going to improve yourself by devoting more of your energy to your art form, then call yourself what you are: a hobbyist or an amateur. A car guard can make money by being visible in a parking area and possibly by helping to guide you out of your parking space, all the while probably wearing a reflective vest which may or may not state his job title. I can assure you that his job title, with or without that vest, is unlikely to be “parking security professional”.
These extravagantly concocted titles make just about any normal job description sound, well, normal. Being a member of recognised profession is no longer sufficient for one to sound professional. In my case, I’m qualified as a pharmacist and when people ask me about my job, I say that I work as a pharmacist. If I’m feeling like I need to throw my weight around because I’m “just a pharmacist”, I’ll say that I’m a clinical pharmacologist (doesn’t that sound interesting?) since I have a Master’s degree in pharmacy, with clinical pharmacology being my specialisation. I don’t actually work as a clinical pharmacologist, but it’s a title which I feel that I am entitled to. But not everybody is a part of a recognised profession, and having a profession sounds a lot more impressive than having an occupation, thus there are many people who will say that they are a “professional <insert job description here>”.
What it means to be a professional may depend on the field that you’re working in. A general definition is that a profession is a paid occupation which involves prolonged training and requires a formal qualification. But definitions become somewhat blurry. In most cases, people are considered to be professionals when they have done something in accordance with an accepted standard as confirmed by others (generally experts in the applicable field), such as when one graduates from college or university or when a sportsman is awarded provincial or national colours. Yet people who work as electricians undergo extensive training and have formal exams, but their jobs are generally referred to as “trades” rather than professions. Then there are those who simply believe that a brief period of training to develop basic ability which can then be used to generate revenue means that one can become a professional in just a few weeks. Or that one can simply provide any kind of premium service and then call himself a professional. So every entrepreneur out there can start generating those oh-so-catchy job titles described above and call herself a professional… Just because one conducts one’s self in a professional manner, does not mean that one’s line of work can actually be considered a profession.
The problem with these blurred lines and the overuse of the word “professional” is that it becomes hard to distinguish true professionals from the run-of-the-mill entrepreneur or occupational office worker. It becomes especially difficult for people wanting to make money from art. Why? Because unlike my profession, where one needs to have the theoretical and practical knowledge in order to function, art is subjective and the quality of an artist’s product could be considered greater or lesser depending on the person paying for it. It would be very difficult to walk into a dispensary wearing a white dispensing jacket and pretend to be a pharmacist, especially when one has be registered with a regulating body in order to practice the profession, but just about anyone can pick up a camera, snap a couple of pictures and try to sell them. Whether or not those pictures are worth the photographic paper that they’ve been printed onto is, as I said, subject to the interpretation of the artist and the client. The same way that just about anyone could don dancer’s apparel, “bust a few moves” and call herself a professional <insert dance form here> dancer. Both examples given are artistic pursuits which many people can aspire to and many people do have natural talents in these art forms. The difference comes in between those who choose to entertain their unpolished abilities by selling their unfinished products and those who choose to put in the time and effort to develop those raw talents and enlighten themselves to the multifaceted nature that is their chosen art form. Does wearing a belly dancing outfit and shaking your hips mean you’re a professional dancer? Does having an expensive camera and photo editing software mean you’re a professional photographer? No, it means you’re assuming attributes associated with those professions and think that having the equipment or looking the part makes you a professional.
I’ve singled out these two art forms because I have personal experience with both professional photographers and professional dancers… and those who are under the misassumption that they can call themselves professionals because they’re using the art forms to make money.
My husband is a photographer, a professional photographer. I feel that he owns that title because he spent several years studying towards a qualification in photography from a tertiary level institution. That being said, I also know of other professional photographers who don’t have that endorsement from a recognised tertiary institution. Those photographers are the ones who did apprenticeships, who learnt the trade while working under the instruction of one or many other experienced photographers in order to develop their skills. Then there are the “fauxtographers”. The ones who, for many varying reasons, decided to start working as camera shutter activators. Why do I call them camera shutter activators? Because these are the “photographers” who think that photography as an art form (or a profession) is limited to snapping a picture. All the various aspects that an actual professional would consider (such as lighting, white balance, focal length of the lens, shutter speed, aperture, ISO settings, location, composition – to name but a few!) are things that they probably have an extremely basic understanding of. Or they may have learnt a few things about these technical considerations, but the shallowness of their knowledge is showcased by the lack of variety in their work. Or there is the extreme, the “photographers” who think that using digital photo editing software makes them professionals. Applying a few filters and inserting an artsy solar flare to an otherwise terrible photograph can make it appealing and, therefore, a product of a professional. Using a paint brush might mean that you are, at the time of using that paint brush, a painter. It does not mean that you are an artist. By the same logic, using a camera to create a photograph does not make you an artist. The talent, skill and expertise used when working with that piece of equipment to produce art makes you an artist.
Belly dancing… I started attending belly dancing classes in 2009. I now attend “advanced level” classes. I am not a professional dancer. I do, however, occasionally dance at functions and am accordingly paid when I do so. I do not receive personal requests to dance, my dance teachers will ask me to perform for certain events when a client has contacted the studio for the purpose of hiring performers. My teachers will decide if the level of skill that I have is appropriate for the event and will ensure that I am performance ready. My teachers have been learning the dance form for many years, have attended various workshops from both local and internationally recognised belly dancers and have done specific teaching courses. Their group experience isn’t limited to these examples. They are constantly researching and learning more about the dance form and sharing their knowledge. But there is another “professional” belly dancer living in my area. She claims to be a professional dancer, she has her own studio and teaches belly dancing. She, however, has no formal qualification to teach this dance form and did not spend a great amount of time learning the dance form from appropriately trained and qualified teachers before opening up her own studio. This woman learnt the basics, rushed through the props and then decided to start dancing “professionally” with her raw dancing talent, her shallow knowledge of the dance form and her absolute lack of dancing-style technique. This woman has ruined the image of belly dancing in my area, with many people thinking that belly dancing simply involves shaking one’s hips, gyrating and wearing revealing outfits. The onus is on my teachers, my fellow students and other dance studios to reclaim the image of the dance form. To show people what being a belly dancer is, especially one who performs professionally.
A profession is something you’ve worked towards, something you’ve earned. Not something you decide to do one day and “qualify” to do in the space of a few weeks. Why is it important to distinguish? Because calling one’s self a professional when one’s work really isn’t of the acceptable standard taints the perception of everyone else daring to call him or herself a professional. Or it cheapens another person’s greater level of skill, expertise and knowledge – reduces it to that of any other person with less than half of those attributes. If you have the raw talent and the passion, then develop it. If you’re not going to improve yourself by devoting more of your energy to your art form, then call yourself what you are: a hobbyist or an amateur. A car guard can make money by being visible in a parking area and possibly by helping to guide you out of your parking space, all the while probably wearing a reflective vest which may or may not state his job title. I can assure you that his job title, with or without that vest, is unlikely to be “parking security professional”.
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