I think professionalism is very important in every industry and profession. Everyone who is striving to be a professional should be competent, trustworthy, respectful, ethical and transparent. There’s certain standards every employee should adhere to like being punctual, reliable and loyal.
Profession
noun pro·fes·sion \prə-ˈfe-shən\
a type of job that requires special education, training, or skillProfessional
adjective pro·fes·sion·al \prə-ˈfesh-nəl, -ˈfe-shə-nəl\
having a particular profession as a permanent career
I think there’s so many different aspects to being a professional web developer, apart from the common professionalism traits like being punctual and reliable every web developer who would like to consider themselves professional should make sure his code is properly written, with indentation and comments to allow other colleges find their way around the code. One of the most important things about being a professional web developer is to respect the intellectual property rights and copyright law by making sure all the content on the web site is original or has the right permissions to be used.
The website should also be coded securely and comply with the client’s requirements as well as adhere to all the accessibility guidelines. Finishing your work on time is also very important as it can slow down the entire project and in the worst case scenario even push the deadline further than expected which can result in financial implications.
Every professional web develop should also never stop learning his craft. With the constantly emerging new technologies and techniques web developers need to stay up to date with all the innovations if they want to keep improving and stay relevant within the industry.
W3C Code Of Ethics and Professional Conduct
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an international organisation for the World Wide Web community. The consortium was founded in 1994 by Tim Berners-Lee who is also responsible for developing HTML language, which hugely changed how we view and navigate the internet today. The W3C was formed in order to ensure the growth of the web by establishing protocols and guidelines for the developers.
W3C is responsible for creating a lot of security and accessibility guidelines and its hugely respected in the web community thus every web developer who strives to be professional should follow their guidelines and be familiar with their code of conduct.
The W3C Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct puts a lot of emphasis on the positive work environment by making sure everybody respects each other and don’t harass or bully anyone in any verbal or physical way. Communicating and the way you do it is also a very big and important part of the being a professional. Communicate in a clear and effective way and always be willing to receive or offer constructive criticism. Another big part of the W3C Code of Ethics is to respect the privacy, confidentiality and cultural differences of your colleagues and clients.
Following the W3C Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct will help you in becoming a professional and respected individual amongst your industry.
Here’s a link to the W3C website where you can learn more about the consortium, their guidelines and Code of Ethics:
Pillars of Professionalism
The characteristic of being a professional individual can be summed up in the four pillars of professionalism.
Commitment:
Being a professional is being able to fully commit to the present task and complete it to your best ability. When faced with an obstacle you should seek help among your peers and not just simply give up on the assignment. You should be honest and always stay true to your word. When taking on a task you need to make sure your work meets the requirements and it’s delivered on time. However if you can’t meet the deadline or your work is inadequent, you must face the consequences and deal with them appropriately.
Integrity:
Integrity s about being honest and having strong moral principles. A professional individual values his relationship with colleagues and clients thus he strives to be an honest and trustworthy person. Integrity is also about commitment and seeing the work completed to your highest standard.
Responsibility:
Every professional needs to be responsible for his work. Web developers and people working in the creative industry have responsibilities to their clients, users and even general public in some cases. Being a responsible professional you need to stay up to date with all the current standards and techniques used in developing web as well as being meticulous with your code, making sure that you eliminate all bugs and errors that could potentially expose your clients privacy or cause monetary loss.
Accountability:
Accountability is essential taking responsibility of the outcome of your or your team’s work. Every professional needs to take responsibility of their finished work and answer for any possible shortcomings. If your work has failed to meet the requirements or the deadline you need to be ready to face the consequences and any potential penalties that might come along with that.