Defining professionalism in IT

Leading certifications such as the Project Management Professional (PMP) and the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) explicitly tout professionalism. However, IT professionals themselves often have trouble coming up with a concise definition of professionalism.

If you think you might be hard pressed to define professionalism with respect to IT, it may help to consider the following behaviours that IT professionals often exhibit:

• Producing quality work: Professionals aren't satisfied with simply completing the task--they desire to deliver the highest quality possible.
• Maximising knowledge: Professionals stay abreast of the constant changes in their field.
• Being innovative: Professionals are creative and use this ability to solve problems in new ways.
• Showing constant improvement: Professionals are always trying to improve upon their solution.
• Seeking additional or greater responsibility: Professionals seek greater control over what they do, and accepting greater responsibility is a means to this end.
• Teaching: Professionals delight in sharing their knowledge.
• Ignoring distractions or losses: Professionals understand and accept setbacks as a normal part of the process and don't allow failure to impact their goals.
• Understanding the importance of communication, appearance, and mannerisms: Professionals realise that the way they look, act, speak, and write impacts the way others perceive them.
• Possessing a good attitude: Professionals understand that a positive attitude can have a considerable impact on their success.
• Keeping up with ethics, regulatory, and legal issues: Professionals are cognisant of the ethical, legal, regulatory, and industry issues involved in their work.
• Comprehending a project's business aspects: Professionals understand the business aspects to the projects with which they're involved--often as well as the business stakeholders that are providing the requirements.

There are a number of factors why IT professionals may have trouble defining professionalism. One reason could be that IT workers perform their trade within a business and technology environment where values systems continually change. For example, organisations that espoused their allegiance to their IT workers just a few short years ago now appear to outsource at a whim. This continued change impacts IT workers' educational requirements as well. For example, many IT workers who took the initiative (at considerable time and expense) to earn certifications that drew high wages last year may find it difficult to get employed today.

Conversely, some elements of an IT worker's life remain the same. Long hours, weekend coverage, on call, and unrealistic time or resource constraints continue to be the standard. And, on top of all this, if business leaders are suspicious of the costs associated with IT projects, it's a recipe for diminished morale.

These combined elements could lead IT workers to reconsider their careers, thus denying the reason most entered the profession: the art of software development. Rather than throw in the towel, you should focus on being the professional you set out to be by achieving expertise in your specialty and not getting distracted from that purpose.