dressing like a professional, talking like a professional,sitting like professional...list is endless

I was doing my shopping to select a T-Shirt for a relative who is in his later teens. And ofcourse the sales person did not know that i was shopping for someone else.

I selected a really cool, bright and sexy T-Shirt with something interesting written on it . The shopkeeper sees that and comes and tells me.."'Ma'm, you better take the other one (selects a pale yellow coloured dim T-shirt). This looks professional Ma'm on Office goers like you. What you have selected suits college goers only".
Grrrr..Well i forgave him because he did not know that i was shopping for someone else.

But that meant that, with or without reason, everyone feels that one needs to look so called 'professional' if he/she is working.

"Professionalism" is a word that refers to the way a person does his job. When we say he/she has done a professional work, it means he/she has worked like an expert in his field unlike a novoice. Other than this simple meaning, i don't think professionalism carries any other meaning.

But the corporate world uses this word so much to refer to everything around it more often, instead of referring to the way a person works.

How often do you hear the statement 'he/she has done a professional job'.?I remember reading this last in the formal appreciation letters that are given on completion of work. Never otherwise!

Now how often do we hear the below statements?
"Hey , that company folks are very professional in the way they talk."
"This lady looks very professional in the way she dresses"
"Hey, don't buy those shoes'they aren't professional looking"
ALMOST EVERYDAY:)

There are so many HR programs that happen on how to look professional. But i rarely see any program that talks on how to do a professional work.


Somehow the word professionalism is now used more to describe the way a person talks ,dresses up etc rather than the way he works:)


On a side note...

I was just searching the Net on "Why do we need dress code" and it took me to this page
http://www.libsci.sc.edu/bob/class/clis724/SpecialLibrariesHandbook/neal.htm#why.

It says "Many people will be turned off by staff members who dress sloppily or wear clothing with potentially offensive images or words. If a coworker proves to be a distraction, the other employees will have a hard time concentrating on their work. "

I agree with the above statement that distractions would exist if there were no dress codes. However i was also wondering how did we manage to complete such tough higher education during our teens , which is considered to be the most distractive period in life, with literally no dress codes.
Hats off to the teens:)

eehhh..does this mean we need more regulations around us as we grow old and grow responsible?