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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Just being sensitive to others' kneads!
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Joined: Dec 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Brit spelling
Eewww! I done that? Eewww!
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,819
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jan 2001
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my two cents:
Professional can be an adjective, as in a professional actor, a professional tennis player, or a professional writer. In these instances the word differentiates between the hobbyist and the person who earns a living from the activity. One interesting case is professional soldier, which implies a level of training and career intention beyond a typical draftee or enlistee, even though they too are paid for their work.
As a noun the word gets used pretty loosely. For example, in personal ads you'll often see something like "professional white female seeks professional, non-smoking white male, age 45 to 60...." One gets the impression that they mean "upper middle class," and bakers, carpenters, steam-pipe fitters, welders, stevedores and other tradesmen need not apply.
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Joined: Dec 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Does this make the *manager of a steel pipe manufacturing facility who sets the standards of labour practices and enforces thier manifestation a professional, yet the *performer isn't? Or is it as a result of thier choice of materials with which to werk that relegates them both to 'trades'?
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Joined: Apr 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
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In reply to:
And- just a thought - does the word "profess" come into play here? Profess as in "lay claim to -- " in your case knowledge in a specific area ?
I remember getting quite confused reading Pilgrim's Progress until I realised Bunyan was using professor to mean something like hypocrite -- someone who professes something but doesn't really believe it.
Bingley
Bingley
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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Musick: I'm not sure. Are asking a prescriptive question or a descriptive question? My answers are from a descriptive point of view.
If you had asked me when I was working full time as a baker if I considered myself to be in the professional class, or if I was "a professional," I would have said no. For one thing, I just can't see "a professional" punching in to a time clock and getting paid by the hour. So if you're talking about the floor manager who rose from the ranks of the paid-by-the-hour employees, I'd say no. He or she is more analogous to a non-commisioned officer in the miltary. If you're talking about someone with a college degree who is paid a salary, wears a tie or other business attire, and basically doesn't get his hands dirty at work (except for maybe changing the toner cartridge), then I'd say that person is someone who probably sees themself as "a professional," which as I said, seems to no longer mean a member of one of the traditional professions.
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member
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member
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Posts: 180 |
I have run up against the "professional" question many times in my working life; I have worked in libraries for 18 years but am not an official librarian because I do not have a degree in librarianship from an ALA accredited institution. So I am designated "paraprofessional staff" (or "libraroid" in my own terminology). The term "professional librarian" is probably useful as a descriptive word because it really does tell people who know the difference what they can expect from you in the way of expertise, or anyway whether you're on salary or a wage slave like me. To the unwashed public, "librarian" seems to imply the cranky old lady who tells you to be quiet and stamps the due date in the book. Except we don't stamp dates any more, and I work behind the scenes and don't particularly give a rat's ass (a cheap commodity) whether someone's talking in the reading room or not.
I'm a cataloger, and have been doing it long enough that I probably know more about it than a professional who has concentrated on reference work or collection development. So all it indicates in my context is how I get paid. My passport says "librarian" (I think) because it actually means something to most people. My title is "Bibliographic Management Specialist, Senior, Foreign Language Expert."
And then there's the more vague and, to my mind judgmental, connotation, which strongly resembles the "art or craft" dichotomy. I'm also a potter, and many people will tell you instantly that I am not an artist but a craftsman. Apparently I'm putting on airs to suggest I'm an artist?
Neither distinction matters much to me usually, "professional" vs "tradesman", "artist" vs. "craftsman". My father has used "artisan" for "craftsman", but only when speaking of himself in comparison to me, an artist by his reckoning. But he's a retired chemistry professor who builds furniture sometimes. As far as I can see his approach to both roles qualifies him as an artist and a professional, but I'm not sure what I mean by that. Obviously I use those terms as indicative of a certain amount of respect on my part, because I think my father is a renaissance man.
So I'm confused. Call me professional, paraprofessional, artist or artisan. Whatever you like. Just don't call me collect.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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I heard a cable based history network last night refer to the Viking berzerkers as "professional marauders" (cross threading quite nicely)
Alex - I'm sticking with it being a *sense of 'personal rewards'.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Professional can be a mindset, an attitude...using the theatrical analogy, there are community theatre companies with reputations for producing professional work, and everybody wants to work with these companies (and, no, they don't pay), as opposed to community theatre companies who have reputations for producing schlock. So you can strive for "professional" as a quality to your work, regardless of monetary compensation. An oft repeated reprimand in any theatre company from community to dinner theatre to regional to Broadway is "how unprofessional," "that's so unprofessional," or "don't be so unprofessional." This can be delivered in tones ranging from a real insult to a joking reaction to a mistake. But most folks who devout their time and energy to a production have the integrity to want to do professional quality work, and take immense pride and dignity in their creation...and those who labor at lower standards soon acquire a background buzz and can find parts increasingly difficult to come by. So I'll join in with musick's semantic here, and add the nuance of mindset, attitude, and quality work.
I've encountered alot[sic] of jerks in professional companies (said to be pros 'cause they were getting paid)
who had no sense of professionalism whatsoever. Unfortunately, while someone can have a good audition and get the part, there's no telling about their attitude or work habits until you're stuck with them, and the show must go on.
Musicians encounter the same situation with band members.
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Joined: Mar 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Musicians encounter the same situation with band members.
...not to mention all the professional orchestras with amateur choruses. Speaking of which, the word "amateur" has gotten an undeserved negative connotation.
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