How do you define "professionalism"? What comes to mind when you hear the phrase: "She/he is a true professional"? What is required of a person to become a professional?

Certainly it must require more than simply taking a few undergraduate courses on a particular field or discipline. Then too, it requires that a person acquire a practical knowledge base of the field or discipline — a knowledge base that extends beyond his or her own personal experience. We might conclude then, that professionalism consists of the three following dimensions:

1. Study. Certainly in recent years, academia has provided a proliferation of courses on the subject of materials management. These courses are a good basis for an introduction to the subject. However, most courses are, at best, theoretical in nature and, at worst, an "ancient history" of the subject. A more state-of-the-art, user-friendly study of materials management and P⁣ activities can be acquired through the APICS certification studies for CPIM and CIRM. These courses offer a practitioner a giant leap forward on the road to professionalism.

2. Work experience. It goes almost without saying that the rigor of working 8 a.m. to 5, 6 or 8 p.m. quickly becomes the learning ground for those who aspire to become a professional in the materials management and P⁣ world. This is a discipline where, truly, only the strong survive. Long hours, aggravation, frustration — these are the things that a good day in P⁣ is made of. Those who persevere add dimension to their professional standing.

But if one does not augment the knowledge gained from his or her own experience with the knowledge others have achieved, one runs the very real risk of becoming like the proverbial carpenter who had only one tool in his toolbox. And, because he only had a hammer, every problem he encountered looked, to him, like a nail! This then brings us to the third dimension of professionalism.

3. A knowledge base that extends beyond one's own experiences. Involvement in APICS activities of all kinds becomes the ideal mechanism for achieving this dimension. The interaction that occurs between attendees at chapter meetings, and the information gained from chapter meeting presentations, APICS-sponsored workshops, seminars, conferences (at the local, regional and national levels) — all help to add new tools to the practitioner's toolbox.

It is not magic that makes one a professional. It is not money, time or luck. It is determination, perseverance and involvement. So how about you — are you a professional? Come on, get involved, get certified, get active — become a true professional.

Copyright © 2020 by APICS — The Educational Society for Resource Management. All rights reserved.

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