I have been laughing the last few minutes, why?
A past event kept reflecting in my head, about the issue of
Certificate vs competency.
I will be the first to admit I love professional growth and
education/training. But when faced with the real issue of creating a society
where too much emphasis is placed on certificate acquisition alone... We are
failing!
Few years ago, a not so tech savvy me had a touchscreen HTC
phone after being so used to the then popular Blackberry phones, adapting to my
new toy was filled with lots of scrolling around the screen and trying to
discover functionality of the phone. I decided to become an explorer lol. As I
kept doing this, I got to a point that I messed up the phone screen and then
everything disappeared from the screen!
Shockingly, my screen stopped functioning with a screen
alignment error message. I tried fixing this with tension within Ten minutes no
luck. I zoomed off to where the phone dealers/repairers
are. I was being called by many of them especially when they noticed I had no
particular direction of shop to visit. I decided to ask one of the dealers
where I can find a phone repairer, he took me to a nice cool shop where it was
boldly written 'XYZ Gadgets Engineer', I was warmly welcomed by a young lady by
the counter who later took me to her boss's desk. I explained my problem to him
he handed me a business card boldly written 'Engr. XYZ BSC, MSC ICT, Java, PHD
ICT in view etc. (ironically, with this card in my hand I was assured in my
mind that my problem was solved) he asked me to fill a form which cost me a
booking fee/advanced payment. I was asked to go wait
at the visitor’s desk for Five minutes.
Ten minutes later, the Big Bold Boss returned called me into
his office, he stated that my phone screen and software was damaged, and the
phone will be reformatted and the touchscreen changed and these will cost more. Meanwhile my phone was barely Five months
and possibly still under warranty. I smiled and asked him how long the repairs
will take he said Three Days as he may have to import the spares! I was like
okay cool.
I responded by telling him I will be back to drop it for the
repairs the next as I had to make a deposit and I did not come out with my ATM
card. He sheepishly smiled and requested for my business card/mobile number
then gave me his business card the second time as a sign of his personal
validation of himself and his qualifications of which he must have been proud.
On a second thought he asked if I could drop it and come back the next day with
the deposit but I declined saying it's not necessary.
As I strolled out of that shop three things struck my mind.
1. Why so much certificates.
2. Is he totally unaware of troubleshooting
a mobile phone or just trying to make up these stories to justify his charges?
3. Why don't I go back to check for the
phone manual, manufacturers website/phone users forum/warranty, do we bother
about finding solutions here?
After answering all the questions I decided to get home. I
explored my third option of checking up manufacturers website/users support
forum/manual… that was it, a three minutes guide/instruction /information
solved the problem!
The instruction was to calibrate the screen following a
simple method of pointing to the four points on the screen. Everything returned
to normal.
I started using my phone within minutes and learnt since
then never to touch certain functions except I was sure of how to return back.
The essence of this long story is this, how did my highly
certified ICT guru arrive at the part where the phone screen needed to be changed?
Competence is very key and professional ethics/values, you
may either know what to do as a result of your Knowledge, Experience, Ability,
training/Academic or you just don’t know but claim to know instead of seeking
ways to get the required level of competency for your job!!!
Don’t seek training alone forgetting the rest, study about
your chosen profession well, seek opportunities for experience whether
voluntarily or paid, acquire applicable skills in your profession and ensure
you have the capability (physical & medical fitness and emotional
intelligence) to carry out the tasks.
Don’t be like my phone engineer who after exciting me with
the titles couldn’t deliver the service commensurate with the titles. I can’t
ever go back there for any service and as you read this today, don’t ever
become a bad example of professionalism. This analogy is not far from what is
experienced in our hospitals daily during instances where wrong diagnosis is
made thereby leading to wrong treatments and eventually deaths of the victims.
Secondly, relate this to situations where professionals
apply for jobs after submitting well packaged Curriculum vitae, and then
employed as a result of their ability to gain the trust of the recruiters as a
result of their ability to be very articulate during the interview sessions but
unable to deliver after being given the opportunity for the job, they
under-deliver! These set of professionals exists in all walks of life but I
wonder if they ever imagine the pains their actions cause the people they
serve??
If you make mistakes which are sometimes inevitable, find
out the root cause and make amends quickly! My Phone engineer still called
me the next day to bring my phone as discussed and I just told him I have fixed
the problem myself. He never called back again, end of!
With passion, integrity, competency, career guide,
continuous professional development, skills acquisition, learning from
incidents, professional affiliation/networking and the right attitude you are
on a journey to a great professional excellence!
Professional affiliations are very important; they are like
Product users forums/reviews! They can help you find solutions to professional
problems thereby supporting/helping your career growth. Form the habit of
asking the right questions, an unexpected question that will lead to knowledge
is better than ignorance out of shame!
I like certificates and all those things that adds flavor to
professionalism but Certificates Alone is not enough!!!
But, never forget the importance of credibility whilst
building a career and how credibility will affect your growth and future!
Safety is about life and death; don’t compromise it as that
can be fatal. This piece applies to safety profession and others.
Do you have a similar experience to share? Let's hear you.