Being a professional
Because a company's work environment is different from the school environment, college graduates who enter their first job often need guidance to achieve certain degree of professionalism in the workplace. What you look, what you say, what you behave, what you do, will determine how far you can go in your career.
Professionalism is an effort by individuals to demonstrate their ability to conduct work in the best and ethical manner possible. However, few schools teach it, few people mention it, and many graduates have made mistakes or gave the wrong impressions about who they were.
Your appearance is the first thing that people often judge you but few students are told about it. Many graduates do not pay attention to the clothes they wear or to their hair and their manner. You do not have to dress nicely but your clothes must be clean and your hair must be combed. In school, you may wear jeans and dye your hair red or blue but at work, you must be careful regardless of what types of job you do. Remember that you are no longer in school so do not act just as a student. Psychologist has found that people who dress professionally will behave in the same manner or people will act according to the way they dress. Sloppy dress indicates you are a sloppy person. Fashion dress indicates you are paying too much attention to yourself and want to show-off. Wrinkled dress indicates you may not have enough sleep. Provocative dress often sends the wrong messages about who you are. Inappropriate dress indicates that you do not care for anything. Professional clothes indicate you are a professional.
To achieve professionalism in the workplace, everyone must know what is to be expected of them. Every company has certain rules and it is important that workers are told of the rules so they can follow. For example, if the use of computers for personal use is prohibited, you should not play videogames or watch “you tube” at work. Many workers often violate this rule as they think nobody would know but everything they do at company is logged into the main monitor server and managers could find out easily. Understand company's policies and rules and following them is the act of a professional.
Every company has its own views on proper etiquette. However the basic rule is to respect other employees as well as management. It is important to control your emotional at work, especially never argue or show anger toward others. Other considerations are politeness and honesty. A “Please” and “Thank you” are important to establish a good working relationship with others.
Unless you have your own office, it is often difficult to sit next to others and not knowing of some personal issues. It is important to keep others to know something about your personal life or for you to know about theirs. What you say or what you do at work, especially on personal issues could turn into a gossip. Avoid using your mobile phone at work, unless it is an emergency. Avoid sending personal emails as they can be read by system support persons who monitor the network. It is also important not to say bad things about others or management as office gossip moves faster than you can imagine and will soon reach those persons.
It is important to go to work on time and leave accordingly. I often advice newly graduates to arrive 10 minutes early and leave 10 minutes late. If your company starts at 8:00 AM then you should be in your workplace by 7:50 AM. If most people leave at 5:00 PM then you may leave at 5:10 PM. Many people often asked why they would have to do that. It is simple; it means you are working diligently from the view of management. Few years ago, when evaluate workers for advancement, I was surprised to hear management mentioned: “He is good, when I come to work he is always there and by the time other leave, he is still working. We should promote people like that.” These managers may not know that worker well, but they observed his daily working routine and considered him for promotion strictly on that category.
It is important to be aware of company policy in the promotion of workers. Knowing how to advance your career and what steps should be taken can help you to design your own advancement path within the company, and keep you from disappointment over your own mistakes. The most common practice of management is to discuss among themselves on who do they think should be promoted and most often, it all based on their personal view of workers who demonstrate their professionalism on the job.
Performing with professionalism in the workplace is a sure way of getting good raise and good promotion in your career. However to establishing your professionalism, students must start WHEN they are in school as it is a personal habit that take years to perfect. Do not give yourself an excuse that you are college students and wait until graduate to build your professional manner. You should start NOW by going to class on time; do not skip class; develop a good discipline by manage your studying time accordingly (Remember the 1 to 2 rule: For every hour in class, you must spend 2 hours to study on your own). Begin to practice your manner by being polite and carefully control your emotion with others. By improve your professionalism now, it will help you to become a professional for your future company and your long- termed career.
Sources
- Blogs of Prof. John Vu, Carnegie Mellon University
