Actually a 'Professional Engineer' (PE appendage-title) does. They take exams, have licenses that are state regulated. Doctors, Lawyers, Architects, Engineers, Nuclear Health & Safety Professionals (My friend is a Professional Engineer in Nuclear Engineering and does Nuclear Health and Safety Consulting where he must use his seal to certify processes, procedures, compliance, etc in addition to designs others dream up).
There are all kinds of 'certifications' both professional and not, for white collar professions and blue collar too (try to be a 'licensed plumber' or electrician without being under a licensed 'master' - In some cases/areas masters and other level are licensed, not counting various union regulations. I can also argue that just being a 'professional' or 'certified' doesn't mean qualified. I know various computer CE's (RHCE, various Microsoft certifications, Novell, Oracle, etc) that are and some aren't worth it. They are not even a good selection criteria to use to hire or contract individuals. But the hiring parties have been duped into believing the 'certifications make professionals' by various organizations. For me, being professional, means being educated, practiced, confident, truly qualified (instead of just on paper used as a marketing tool). It also comes with a sense of responsibility for the customer (whether you call them boss, or customer, if they depend on your knowledge and/or services, I think of them as a customer. I also believe high ethics and morals come with being truly professional. This is in addition to meeting all legal requirements. To me, one can be a professional in any field. Ditchdigger, street walker, sailer, woodworker, chef, waitress, blacksmith, middle manager, C-level executive, and yes, programmer / analyst or 'software engineer' as in current vogue. Obviously this is a hot button for me. I hope my little diatribe helps someone. _______________________________________________ Tech mailing list [email protected] https://lists.lopsa.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tech This list provided by the League of Professional System Administrators http://lopsa.org/
