Too Sexy For My Books

Okay this is something that has been niggling away at me for a while. I’ve spoken with a few people about it indirectly and after prompting have decided to blog about it - Professional vs. Non-professional. This may seem to some as being pedantic, elitist and petty but hey, this is my blog I can do what I want.

For a while now I’ve noticed a number of SEO and search types referring to themselves as professionals, just this morning I read a post where the author referred to themselves as “an SEO professional”. Um, no, sorry but you’re not.

To be a professional is to be a member of a profession. That’s right, a ‘member’. You need to be a card carrying, signed up, registered member of an organised and recognised group. When you think of professions the first ones that come to mind are medicine, law, architecture and the like - these are all professions with governing bodies, licenses and rules. A concise definition of a profession is: A profession is a group of people in a learned occupation, the members of which agree to abide by specified rules of conduct when practicing the profession.

In order to be a profession the following must be in place and adhered to:

Skill based on theoretical knowledge: Professionals are expected to have a foundation in theory relating to their field. They are expected to be able to draw on this body of theoretical knowledge and apply it in practical situations.

Extensive period of formal education: Usually a university degree. Generally this education will take the form of a professional degree. I.e.: a degree that upon conferral renders the holder eligible to enter the profession directly relating to the field of study in which the degree was undertaken. An exception to this is the Officer Corp of the military. In place of a university degree extensive leadership, strategic studies etc are undertaken over a minimum of 2 years.

Professional association/organisation: A recognised association which is organised and governed by its members.

Testing of competence: In order to be admitted to a profession, base level competencies and knowledge must be met. Initial entry to a professional body is usually given upon application, to professional degree holders. Testing however does not necessarily stop there, take the medical profession. Most medical practitioners specialise. In order to do this they need to spend a certain number of years working in various rotations and then studying and applying to sit a theoretical exam and upon passing that, a practical exam, just to be able to train in their chosen specialisation. After completing a set number of years training, they then have to sit theoretical and practical exams in order to gain admission into the ‘college’ or ‘specialised profession’ within the overall profession. I mean really, we cannot go about letting just anyone in old chaps!

Ongoing professional development: Its not enough just to undertake your initial education and get entry into your chosen profession. You need to show ongoing commitment to your profession through professional development. Not just any professional development – reading blogs and attending conferences is not enough – but ongoing training and education as outlined by the governing body.

Registered licensed practitioners: Again just having completed a recognised or accredited educational/training course in your field is not enough. A professional must apply to, and be accepted by, the governing body and be admitted to the professional register. In accepting this license (which allows for the funky use of post-nominals) you are committed to adhering to the rules, ethics and standards of the professional organisation.

Code of professional conduct: A set of ethical standards that are adhered to by all registered members and enforced by the governing body.

Public service and altruism: Generally professions are areas of work which are firmly rooted in the social ideal that the services they provide contribute to the welfare of the community.

Autonomy: Professions are generally recognised as having control over their field of work, regardless of where they are employed. For example: a librarian working in a financial institution is still a librarian; they adhere first and foremost to the ethics and standards of the library profession and not those of the finance world. A professional is not ‘governed’ nor their actions determined by an external body or organisation such as, say, oh I don’t know, Google

The post that initially got me thinking about the concept, or rather the institution, of a profession was this post about education requirements in the search industry. What struck me about this post (and the comments) was not whole university education vs. on-the-job-real-world-experience but rather the misunderstanding of the term ‘professional’. In calling yourself a professional you have by definition had to have had some kind of formal training and education, which makes the whole tertiary vs. real world argument redundant.

Another looser, more waffly, definition of ‘profession’ is:

‘A disciplined group of individuals who adhere to high ethical standards and uphold themselves to, and are accepted by, the public as possessing special knowledge and skills in a widely recognised, organised body of learning derived from education and training at a high level, and who are prepared to exercise this knowledge and these skills in the interest of others.’

Again a key factor here is the mentioning of education and training ‘from an organised body of learning’. Another salient aspect of a profession is that of standards (preferably highly ethical standards).

A debate that has been rearing its head frequently is that of the need for standards in the search world. Again a formalised structure of standards (both theoretical and ethical) and adherence to, and enforcing of those standards is a key requirement in a professional body and in turn its members. Break those standards then you will be discharged, disbarred, struck off, drawn and quartered or shot at dawn. The fact that the need for standards is so hotly debated is another indicator that search as it currently stands is not a profession.

Personally I think it is a good thing that not every service or industry is a profession, especially newly emerging and dynamic fields of work. The boundaries and structures (and even the hierarchies) in place in professional associations tend to give the services an ‘institutional’ feel. Convention is adhered to and creativity can be, and often is, stifled. Do those working in search really want to be ‘professionals’?

“Oliver’s Army”, Elvis Costello