Unqualified
A few days ago an employer asked me, “How do you know if the person you are hiring is qualified?” My first response consisted of the usual things like interview, resume, and letters of recommendation. He was impressed. So, I took a breath and said that he should check the applicant’s degree plan to see exactly what is the applicant’s academic major.
It is clear that a good number of applicants refer to themselves as exercise physiologists although their academic degree is in kinesiology with a concentration in exercise science. Of course a concentration is not an academic major. The two or three courses provide at best an introduction to the academic major. An employer is not interested in hiring a person with a few courses in exercise science when he is interested in hiring an exercise physiologist!
Can the applicant do the job? The answer to this question is exactly what the employer must know. There is really little reason to hire someone who cannot do the job. This is why the interview is important. Naturally, it is important to check the candidate’s references and his hands-on experiences. Employers must scrutinize every aspect of the candidate. Is he telling me the truth? Does he know how to prescribe exercise using graded exercise testing?
It is an awesome responsibility to identify the right person for the job. There are so many who fail to measure up. Employers have a big challenge ahead of themselves. If they fail to hire a qualified candidate, they may be held accountable. If the employer is not up-to-date with what is happening in exercise physiology, the importance of board certification, and the professional development of exercise physiology, the employer’s actions may influence his own job. It is therefore important to get beyond yesterday’s thinking that appearance and/or weekend certifications will do.
Take a careful look at the qualifications of each candidate. If it is important that physical therapists graduate from physical therapy programs and, similarly, if it is important that nurses graduate from nursing programs, then exercise physiologists ought to graduate from exercise physiology programs. This is not just understood but expected in traditional healthcare programs. It should be understood in exercise physiology, too. In other words, professionalism says something about the person, his education, or his qualifications to do the job. It is a tragedy when academic exercise physiologists fall short of living up to this simple understanding? Employers are not just confused about whom to hire, they may even feel abused or used. This is in no way a contradiction or an overstatement of the employer’s feelings.
Unfortunately, the exercise physiology faculty and their department chairs are not sharing this message with their students. Academic minors are still minors. Kinesiology degrees are still kinesiology and not exercise physiology. This is an ethical problem. It may also have important legal implications.