One of the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE)'s core Career Readiness competencies is Professionalism/Work Ethic:

"Demonstrate personal accountability and effective work habits, e.g., punctuality, working productively with others, and time workload management, and understand the impact of non-verbal communication on professional work image. The individual demonstrates integrity and ethical behavior, acts responsibly with the interests of the larger community in mind, and is able to learn from his/her mistakes." 

A positive professional image tells employers that you are reliable, responsible, and committed to improvement by accepting feedback and seeking out help when you need it. You demonstrate professionalism through your attire, responsible behavior, and appropriate communication—both face-to-face and online. Building your professional image begins with self-reflection.

Professionalism Starts Now

As a current CCV student, you should begin to build your professionalism skill set now. How can you show professionalism in your role as a student?

• Read A Guide to Professionalism in the Workplace.
• Be on time and prepared for each class meeting. CCV faculty can serve as professional references, and they may be able to help you begin to develop a professional network in your career field. Demonstrating to your instructors that you are reliable and responsible will serve you well in college and beyond.
• Commit to improvement by accepting feedback and seeking out assistance when you need help.
• Communicate thoughtfully and respectfully with other students, faculty, and staff. Your emails and phone messages should be thoughtful, grammatically correct, and respectful.
• Dress appropriately when at a CCV academic center or event.
• Create and maintain an appropriate online presence.

Create Your Professional Image

• Call your own phone number to make sure your voicemail and ringtone sound professional. If you haven’t already done so, consider changing your primary email to something generic such as firstname.lastname@gmail.com.
• Google yourself to see what others see when they search for you. Check to see what appears on social media sites such as Facebook and Instagram. Always ask yourself: Would I want a future boss to see this?
• Bury your digital dirt. If there are some questionable links that pop up, you’ll want to create new material that will cover it up. Consider joining LinkedIn, a professional networking site, or consider setting up a professional blog to develop a clean online presence.
• Build a web presence in your field. Follow blogs that are related to your career interests or professional association (a group of individuals in similar professions), or join an email distribution list, or listserv, that matches your interests. Search the web to find a professional association that is right for you.
• Gather and save materials for inclusion in a professional portfolio. Save your course evaluations from faculty and request letters of recommendation from any advisors, faculty, or group leaders who could speak positively about your professionalism, leadership, or abilities.