One thing that keeps bugging me — other than Justin Bieber's haircut — is the notion that claim work and adjusting is not a true profession. We have even read the words of sage colleagues who lecture us about why we cannot consider ourselves part of a genuine profession. Really?

Often, this rationale to deny us professional status uses a conventional yardstick that says a profession requires a graduate degree, strict membership rules that grant admission after a “stiff battery of tests, ” and ethical altruistic behavior.

If you did not meet these criteria, then, sorry — you were not in a profession. If you met them, then you were a professional. Congratulations! Welcome, doctors, lawyers, and clergy. Step inside the velvet rope while those other folks gaze from the sidelines. Sadly, this thinking reinforces an inferiority complex on the part of some claim professionals.