This and all the replies. When I taught Professional Development to grad students, Day 1 discussion started with “what do we mean when we say ‘professional’ and ‘unprofessional’?” Unpack it, interrogate it, check yourself when you’re tempted to use it. https://twitter.com/ComradeEmber/status/1316071955464888320

SO many students I’ve worked with over the years are afraid to do SO many things because they’re afraid they “might be unprofessional.” Here’s a list
of the ones I remember:

* Take notes during interviews
* Ask questions during interviews
* Express opinions during interviews
* Express opinions on social media
* Use more than one single “classic” font or any colors whatsoever on a résumé

* Wear a sleeveless top under a blazer to an Internship Fair when it’s 90 degrees out
* Show “too much skin”
* Have visible tattoos or piercings
* Dye their hair (if not a “natural” color)
* NOT dye their hair (if they are going gray)

* Cut their hair (if it is “too
short,” esp for female-identifying)
* NOT cut their hair (if it is “too long,” all genders)
* Have facial hair (all genders)
* Cover their hair (for reasons of religious observance)
* Do their nails
* NOT do their nails

* Ask for more than two five-minute breaks between back-to-back meetings in a 12-hour on-campus interview day (OK, not a student)
* Ask to use the restroom before or after an interview
* Ask about salary ranges before applying, if they are not posted with the opening

* List meaningful, long-term, skilled work done for pay on their résumé if it was done for a relative’s business or religious organization
* List management experience if it was in a retail or food-service environment

* Use their actual name (usually, instead of an “Americanized” nickname)
* Return to using their maiden name after divorce
* Indicate their pronouns on their conference badge (if the conference does not list them for everyone already)

* Wear anything but suits and ties to conferences (even though they are not Justin Timberlake, and do not own and cannot afford to buy a week’s worth of suits and ties)
* Wear anything cute, fun, or giving the slightest clue as to their personality & style during conferences

* Wear glasses or use literally ANY other assistive device
* Speak in their normal speaking voice, accent, etc.
* “Gesture too much”
* Exist as a human being in a body

All of these discussions with students and colleagues (and many others I’ve listened to on here) have convinced me of a few things: “Unprofessional” is a term routinely weaponized against many groups (inc. fat, old, young, disabled, GNC, female, queer, non-white, etc. etc. etc.)

“Unprofessional” is also so poorly defined as to be meaningless—EXCEPT for people in power, who ALL know EXACTLY what it means when one of them uses it in reference to someone less powerful.

And people, especially emerging professionals, are being simultaneously terrorized by the threat of “unprofessionalism” and not allowed to insist instead on what professionalism SHOULD mean: Knowledgability, competency, ethical and mutually respectful conduct in the workplace.

If you are EVER tempted to use the U-word, I encourage you to first ask yourself: Am I critiquing this person’s competency, ethics, or performance in the workplace? Or am I unhappy with some aspect of their humanity? If the latter, just STFU and get back to work.