Professional or Expert/Guru/Genius?

"All I know, is that I learned more on my own than I have in college classes - and experience always says more than education - otherwise, the newest college graduates would have better jobs and better pay than the seasoned workers, simply because their degree is newer, and theoretically more current." - [[Neo]]

I had been needing some blog fodder for a while - something that wasn't tired, old rhetoric based on political news.

And then I saw @Xemion post this message:

Retweeting @brandoncorbin: Why not replace Genius, Expert or Guru with Professional? this way you won't sound like an egotistical a** head.
about 6 hours ago from twhirl

to which I replied:

@xemion what if the people that use Genius, Expert, or Guru don't like the culture that "Professional" implies, but know just as much?
about 6 hours ago from web in reply to xemion

Then I read a non-reply reply from him:

I'm not sure what sort of culture "professional" implies, but it's got to be better than the one "guru" implies (IMO)
about 6 hours ago from twhirl

and I explained what I meant:

@xemion it's all opinion. IMO, "Professional" says "commercial corporate monkey"; Guru/Expert/Genius say "ultimate, life-dedicated hobbyist"
about 6 hours ago from web in reply to xemion

Which is pretty much how I view it. Let me explain...

I got my first corporate job doing accounting, but had always had an interest in IT stuff since college - it was the reason I went to college, after all, to extend my hobby into a degree.

I was a "power user" at work, and went through 3 computers during the first couple months because the crappy old Windows NT 4.0 machine couldn't handle the kind of work I wanted to do with it. Neither could the low-grade Optiplex GX-1.

When asking the IT people questions, I was always viewed as some dumb user who didn't know what I was talking about (and granted, I was in a lot of areas - but that's why I was asking the questions).

Everyone that I knew that was in the IT field, whether it was my parents, the company's IT people, or professors - they were all doing it to get paid, and had no interest in doing it because it was what they liked to do. It was a job choice...like my doing accounting work. They were (quote, unquote) "Professionals."

Now, I am the guy in that field, doing the things that they were doing. My predecessor at my current company is someone that I would consider a "professional" but then again, I don't know what his does in his spare time - though I'm sure it's nothing like what I do.

I wouldn't call myself an "Expert," "Guru," or "Genius" in any particular definition of the words. However, I would say that I am an extreme hobbyist that is not doing this just as a job, but because it's what I have essentially devoted my life to learning and doing. I take great pleasure/pride in the fact that I do not operate under any pretenses of coming in to any past or present job wearing the standard white shirt, black suit, and tie. Even when I was required to wear a suit to work, I never wore (never even owned) a white dress shirt.

I guess it's part of my "corporate identity" and my idea of the Corporate Environment 2.0. What one wears to work doesn't have anything to do with what one knows or is able to do. However, it does say something about how they view or conduct themselves. (And how they view themselves is portrayed in how they dress.)

So, would I prefer to tell people that I'm a professional or a guru/expert/genius when it comes to teck? Well, it would depend on the context - but frankly, if I were hiring an employee to help move an IT department forward, I would prefer the latter. If I wanted a warm body to just do tasks without new ideas, I'd probably hire a "professional."

All I know, is that I learned more on my own than I have in college classes - and experience always says more than education - otherwise, the newest college graduates would have better jobs and better pay than the seasoned workers, simply because their degree is newer, and theoretically more current.