Remember this line? It was a question posed by King Leonidas to his troops, when, while on the road to Thermopylae to stop the Persians, they came across the Thespians. All this of course, according to the movie “300” which, frankly, didn’t do very well in terms of accurately depicting historical events. Not that it matters though, as it never claimed to be an accurate historical representation, anyway.
So, what is your profession? An auditor might say “I’m an auditor” which, in my view, wouldn’t be so good for their career progression. How about “I’m a public accountancy expert”? It isn’t as narrow as the “auditor” reply and it may as well spark the other party’s interest in wanting to get to know you better and asking for more details.
One could argue that my suggested reply doesn’t really say much because it’s too wide and they may as well be right. But the reason why I’m suggesting a wider reply, is because in my view, the correct answer to the question “What is your profession” isn’t what one actual does, but rather, what one actually knows.
The difference between the two has mostly to do with having a different mental set, rather than anything else. Someone who replies this question by saying “I’m an auditor” will have a very hard time finding another job should they lose their current one. Not so much because there won’t exist other things that they could do, but because they themselves, would think that they cannot do anything else but being an auditor.
Claiming that you are a “public accountancy expert” on the other hand, defines mostly what you know, rather than what you are currently doing. This is important to remember because, ultimately, what you do is irrelevant. It’s what you know that matters. How you are going to utilize your knowledge to be of use to others, is another issue. You could be an auditor, a trainer, an author, a mentor, whatever. All these are just means you employ to let others benefit from your knowledge.
So stop underestimating yourself. I bet you are much more than an auditor. But you have to believe so as well.