Define Professional

Amanda Marshall said, “Don’t assume everything on the surface is what you see.”

Perception is everything. In a split second, your first impression tells people who you are, what you are, and what they can expect from you. It happens that fast.

Don’t believe me? Go visit any club after 11pm. Walk in the door, check out the crowd. They’re checking you out too, don’t forget. As you peruse the people, your brain makes snap judgments about the men and women around you faster than you can think.

See that blonde? High-maintenance. Snotty. That guy? Construction worker. Over there? The waitress looks tired, a little sad. The guys by the pool table are go-nowhere-in-life bums.

I had a client yesterday who had gone searching for a writer to help with an investment pitch – a very serious one involving millions. He hired a writer who came with a recommendation, a woman with a PhD.

Hey, come on. A professional writer with a PhD… she’s gotta be good, right?

The work was bland, basic punctuation was missing, and there really wasn’t much to get excited over. At all. I wondered what field her PhD was in, because it certainly wasn’t written English.

The perception of excellence because of the term PhD being tossed around lands this writer work. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: You don’t need a degree to be a good writer.

In fact, I’m very wary of writers who proclaim degrees in this and that and who boast of long pedigrees – they’re usually the ones that don’t pass our basic entry-level tests for a 300-word article.

When the client came to me asking if I’d overhaul the investment proposal project to make investors sit up and take notice instead of dozing off, I said yes. I understood why he’d gone looking (I was tied up elsewhere), and I understood why he chose this writer.

Was that writer a professional? Maybe. She fits the strict definition. But was she professional? I’m not so sure.

For those who wonder, no, there is no degree I’m aware of to prove that you’re an excellent writer. Simon Fraser University in Canada does have a writing and publishing program for continuing education but… no degree.

[tags]writing degree, courses for writing, professional writer[/tags]