Industry Expectations & Professionalism

What makes you professional?

We often hear how important it is to behave professionally at work. But what exactly does it mean?

Is it strong skills and competence in your chosen field?

or the qualities and behaviors you exhibit?

Maybe it’s the way you conduct yourself during your business affairs?

Let’s discuss,

10 Characteristics of Professionalism

Appearance

Whatever role you play in your organization, your appearance is critical in the way you represent the professionalism of your career.

A good rule of thumb is to dress in the position you aspire to have. When in doubt, err on the conservative side.

Reliability

Unreliability was recently identified as the number one career-limiting habit and it’s no surprise. After all, if the people you work for (and with) can’t depend on you, what purpose do you serve?

You can demonstrate reliability by:

• Requests or inquiries are often followed upon.
• Getting to work, meetings, and activities on time or early.
• Consistently producing high-quality jobs.
• Having a clear response to issues.
• Abiding by defined processes and procedures.
• Putting all of your focus on the job at hand.
• Always being true to your word.

Demeanor

Your demeanor refers to your attitude as well as your nonverbal emotional tone. You may or may not be aware of the overall emotional undertone you’re projecting.

Maintaining Your Poise

Maintaining your poise isn’t always easy, especially when you’re challenged in a professional or social environment. Rude people can provoke a reaction, but the most poised people are prepared for whatever comes their way.

Phone Etiquette

Phone etiquette is the way you use manners to represent yourself and your business to customers via telephone communication. This includes the way you greet a customer, your body language, tone of voice, word choice, listening skills, and how you close a call.

Ethics

Good Ethics is a fundamental requirement of any profession. Ethics is a system of moral principles governing the appropriate conduct of a person or a group. Maintaining good ethics is being consistent with the principles of correct moral conduct constantly.

Written Correspondence

It is important to be aware of your writing style and convey your professionalism when writing to your employer, coworker, or professor. Always be courteous. Make sure to use the correct format. Be formal and direct. Remember your written response is quotable and can be easily referenced.

Organizational Skills

Organization skills are those related to creating structure and order, boosting productivity, and prioritizing tasks that must be completed immediately, versus those that can be postponed, delegated to another person, or eliminated altogether.

Maintaining strong organizational skills can reduce the chance of developing poor work habits such as procrastination, clutter, miscommunication, and inefficiency. Managers look for employees who can not only keep their work and their desk organized but for those who can also adjust quickly to the organizational structure of a company.

Accountability

This means being responsible for your actions as well as the actions of the organization you represent. Always be accountable for your faults and mishaps.

Competence

Competency in your field of study and in your career is important. Managers only hire employees that know how to do their job properly. Having a broader understanding of your work is

Industry Expectations

How do I know what is expected of me?

Sometimes it’s difficult to live up to industrial expectations. Especially if you are still new to all of this. Keep in mind that expectations vary from one company culture to another. But here are a few general skills expected by any company.

Communication Skills

Great communication skills are a must. This is one of the most critical skills that a fresher should possess and every step should be towards improving these skills.

Industry practitioners in recruitment have found new ways to identify candidates who are good at communication skills. Group discussions, personal interviews, and reading sessions are examples of such ways.

Innovative Thinking

The ability to come up with new ideas and novel approaches to problems is a rare and much-appreciated skill in the work environment. Innovative thinking is critical in business because the world is rapidly changing.

Nobody is a born an innovative thinker. After gaining different kinds of experiences, people develop their thinking skills and improve their ability to generate innovative ideas.

Ability to Lead

The ability to lead effectively relies on a number of key skills, but also that different leaders have very different characteristics and styles. There is, in fact, no one right way to lead in all circumstances, and one of the main characteristics of good leaders is their flexibility and ability to adapt to changing circumstances. Leadership skills are highly sought after by employers.

Positive Outlook

A positive attitude is something that goes deeper and has an effect beyond surface cheer. Negative attitudes promote fear, and a narrowing of focus and the mind, while positive attitudes do the opposite. Although it’s difficult and nearly impossible to keep a positive outlook all the time, it’s best to at least try because a positive attitude can boost morale of the people around you as well.

Versatility

What the companies often want is a mix of versatile skills that make it easy for them (and you) to adapt to the changing needs and demands which occur in businesses today. In today’s ever-changing environment, versatility is a mandatory attitude every working person needs to have.

Willingness to Learn

A willingness to learn is the desire to gain knowledge and develop skills to improve your work performance. Employees who demonstrate a willingness to learn are typically always searching for new opportunities to stay ahead of modern trends, achieve professional goals, and complete more challenging tasks. Showing that you’re willing to learn tells employers that you’re a hardworking, driven, and motivated team member.

That’s all for industrial expectations and professionalism. But keep in mind that these may vary from one company culture to another. But it is best to practice them to the best of our abilities.

Have a nice day!