On Thu, Oct 24, 2013 at 12:09 PM, Joseph Kern <[email protected]>wrote:
> That definition identifies the following characteristics of a professional:
>
>>
I'd like to add one thing to the mix. I'm not sure how to clearly define it
but a profession would also require a backing that provides for legal
ramifications.
I'm going to have to say this in a really ugly round-about way, I'm sorry.
Here in Massachusetts, I used to be a professional projectionist. Yes, a
professional A/V kid! ;)
In order for me to get a job, I had to do all the things as listed in these
characteristics. I had to apprentice, pass a test (which required
sponsorship by a licenced projectionist who'd been active for X number of
years), maintain that licence by active work in the field and periodic
testing. Legally, when I was working, I was the top of the pyramid. The
safety of all customers and employees was *MY* responsibility. I had the
legal power to throw the manager or owner out of my projection booth should
their presence interfere with my work and jeopardise the safety of the
people there.
The "active work" part required that I be employed by a movie theatre in
that capacity.
Here's where my poorly stated point shows up.
For a movie theatre to hire me, I had to have a current license. If they
hired me *without* said license, their insurance would be in jeopardy.
Also, the mandates of their license/permit from the town/city/state would
be violated meaning they could be closed. Should something happen during
the period where an unlicensed projectionist is in charge, there's a number
of statutes that could/would kick into play.
So, for my job to be a profession:
A) There had to be an 'incentive' for a business hiring me to make sure *I*
was "licensed"
B) There had to be a punishment for a business to suffer should they hire
someone who was *not* licensed.
C) There had to be legal/financial reasons that they *had* to adhere to the
rules.
If I were to put it in terms of the SA business.... (fer instance)
A company (Acme Inc) who wants a website to represent them for
advertisement/sales/support must, by orders of their being a business, make
sure that the company hosting the product is reasonably reliable and 'in
good standing' and that their practices include "licensed" (or whatever
term you want) system admins who practice a known set of standard type
procedures for security and privacy and reliability.
Should this company, Acme, run into a problem and, let's say a number of
social security numbers are exposed, their insurance company can look at
the steps they took in procuring this website, see that they didn't make
sure that there were sysadmins in good stead employed and then the
insurance company can say "Tough luck dude. You're on your own."
One or two of those cases and a large portion of businesses would make the
point of backing everyone here to make sure we meet a measurable set of
standards and practices.
Before anyone starts saying the obvious, no, this does not cover 100% of
the cases/incidents out there but I'm sure it covers a good 90% of them and
let's face it, that's more than a majority and might be enough to reach a
critical mass allowing this business to be recognized as a 'true'
profession.
Thank you to everyone for their indulgence and my use of the soap-box.
--
<< MCT >> Michael C Tiernan.
http://www.linkedin.com/in/mtiernan
Non Impediti Ratione Cogatationis
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