Who is a professional?

Who is a professional?

Dr.R.V.Singh

This question must have been posed many a times to many a students, who have enrolled themselves in those so-called professional courses viz. MBBS, B.Tech. , B.E., CA, CS, MBA, M.Tech. etc.  Even I have been under the (false) impression that a person with any of these (and many other such) qualifications ought to be classified as a professional.

Does a mere possession of a degree, preparing and enabling you to take up a job straight away or to launch an enterprise of your own, suffice to qualify you as a professional? Do you mean that a youth becomes a professional upon earning one of such degrees from a recognized institute, even if he/she doesn't  put that particular knowledge to any practical application? To make is clear, I let me ask- is a person with an MBBS degree, but not practicing at all, worthy of being branded as a professional?  Similarly, should a person with a B.Tech. degree, engaged in an entirely different profession and thereby not applying his technical knowledge for earning his livelihood, still be called a professional or not? In my opinion, the reply to my question, in the above situations, should be a big and clear NO. By training you might be anything, a doctor, an engineer, or an accountant, but if you don't put your specially acquired knowledge to any application, you are not at all a professional.

I am not a doctor or an engineer or a CA. I don't possess any of those fancy degrees that qualify a human being (especially in India) as a so-called PROFESSIONAL. Still, even without a degree, I feel I am one of the biggest professionals, my profession has ever had. This I claim, precisely on one premise- I love my job. Of course, I charge money for the services I render. In lieu thereof, I dispense my product in the most perfect manner, well in time and to the utmost satisfaction of my client, at a very competitive rate. I don't believe in cheating my client, but at the same time, I won't mind pulling out my remuneration from his throat, if he tries to play smart on me.

A professional in my opinion, is thus, a person, who delivers in time, the service, goods or assignment made to him, in lieu of a consideration in cash or kind. But if he is unable to deliver for what he is being paid, or which is expected of him, by virtue of his position in his family, society or organization, he is not worthy of being termed as a professional.

I came across a female doctor, who with the generous funding from her businessman husband, had set up a clinic, but would seldom sit there. When a patient went for treatment, he would be confronted with a young boy of 12-13 years, who would run to the doctor's place and call her. The doctor would come after about 20-30 minutes wait, accompanied by  her 5 year old son. When the doctor (a ladies' specialist) would examine the patient, her son would be loitering around. This in my opinion is a highly unprofessional approach towards a doctor's profession.

Today, our country  is producing each year several lakhs of engineers from thousands of Engineering colleges that have mushroomed all over the country. Most of them don't find a job befitting their profile. They end up joining government offices, private firms, banks, call centres, BPOs etc, where their specialization finds no application. If they are not making use of their knowledge in the field of engineering, and are engaged in typing letters, answering calls and filing papers instead, why should they be called professionals at all?

They still stand a chance, when it comes to my parameters of professionalism. In my opinion, anybody who is doing his/her assigned job with utmost devotion and dedication, without leaving any scope for complaint, is a professional. If however, a person with a so-called professional qualification, despite being engaged in his/her area of professional specialization, is discharging his/her duty half-heartedly, without aspiring for excellence is not worthy of being tagged as a professional.

A professional gives his/her everything to his profession. We all have heard of Thoma Alva Edison, the great inventor, who has more than 1000 inventions to his credit. He had has only a 3 months formal education, as a child. He was turned out of school and branded as an IDIOT. His mother taught him and brought him up in such a manner that he became the greatest genius of all times in the history of mankind. The day he got married, incidentally, he had left a half-finished experiment in his lab. Soon after the wedding ceremony, he left for the lab, telling his wife that he would be back soon. The young bride kept waiting almost the whole night. One of Thomas's friends saw his lab's lights on at about 3 a.m., and on reaching there, found that Thomas was deeply engrossed in his experiment. The friend reminded him of the waiting bride, with whom Thomas had to consummate his marriage. 'Oh god, its my wedding night..' said Thomas and rushed to see his bride. This narration depicts the devotion a professional should have for his/her work.

If you don't have the requisite amount of devotion to your work, you are anything, but a professional.

The word professional has a negative connotation too. For instance a supari (contract) killer in India, i.e. a person who kills someone on contract, for a pre-decided consideration, is supposed to be a professional killer. Similarly, a person who reaps all the benefits of a particular situation, in a shrewd manner is said to be a professional. Take for instance the case of Anna Hazare, who lodged a strong move against the people in power for a specific purpose. Whether his job was done or not, is  known to the entire country. He went back to the place from where he had come, which implies that he didn't capitalize the situation for any gains. His companions, who shared dais with him during the agitation at Jantar Mantar, however, encashed the mileage gained from the movement and came into power to form a government in the capital state.  This is a professional approach, with the connotation I have mentioned above, when viewed with the perspective of Anna Hazareji.

I am, in the most professional manner, open to any other idea or theory depicting a true professionalism. I therefore, welcome all my friends and readers to kindly come forward and offer their comments on the idea I have just mooted and put forth.

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