I like the idea of developing an online professional identity. Problem is, this requires an offline professional identity. Something I still struggle with.
Depending on the context, I’m an “arts and cultural professional,” a “folklorist,” a “public programs specialist,” a “problem-solver,” a “performance coordinator,” an “educational administrator.” There’s an arsenal of descriptors based on my experience and interests floating around in my head, and I can pull from these to craft a makeshift identity. But if there were no hiring managers to satisfy, no scholarship application committee to convince…
what do I want my professional identity to be?
We’re constantly asked to define our professional goals:
“Oh, English major, so you’re going to be a teacher?”
“I don’t think so?”
“Then what?”
[Awkward shrug]
[Concerned look]
I’m happy to be at the stage where I’ve been employed enough times that I no longer get concerned looks when I tell people what I do or what I’m studying. But I still find it difficult to articulate my professional identity.
It’s tempting to envy those one-word professions: teacher, doctor, firefighter, accountant. But they are so widely represented in media that individuals in these professions may find their titles (and the images and meaning they invoke) limiting. So I think the ability to create an online professional identity is meaningful to everyone, not just those of us with professional identity crises.
A quick Google search to find this definition: “Professional identity is defined as one’s professional self-concept based on attributes, beliefs, values, motives, and experiences” (Ibarra, 1999; Schein, 1978).
Attributes. beliefs. values. motives. experiences… that’s a lot to consider.
I’d like to use this blog to explore the idea of professional identity: learn how others construct theirs and begin to construct my own. Not a makeshift one, but one that feels like me.
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