ROTARY CLASSIFICATIONS & JOB TALKS

Rotary clubs are nonreligious, non-political and open to every race, culture and creed. Rotary does however use a classification system to establish and maintain a vibrant cross-section or representation of the community's business, vocational, and professional interests among club members. The goal is to develop a pool of resources and expertise, to successfully implement service projects. Paul Harris, the founder of Rotary, established the paradigm of choosing cross-representation of each business, profession, and institution within a community without disproportional representation from one or more professions. He wanted to avoid having a club of just lawyers or accountants and instead have a club with a diverse membership. The classification approach to membership was to avoid a Rotary club from becoming an "old boys" club where everyone is more or less the same.

Paul Harris, Founder of Rotary International

A classification describes either the principal business or the professional service of the organization that the Rotarian works for or the Rotarian's own activity within the organization. Some examples of classifications include: high schools, universities, eye surgery, banking, pharmaceutical retailing, petroleum-distribution, and insurance agency. For many years Rotary had an official "classifications" list but in recent years that has loosened up to allow individual clubs to determine what classifications actually represent a vibrant cross-section of their community.  In practical application the classification system is actually very flexible, and many different classifications are possible. It effectively brings together into Rotary fellowship many people who wouldn't otherwise have contact with one another. The membership can then really come to represent the business and professional life of the community. They bring to the table conversations, and to their committee work, unique perspectives that are a major strength of what is Rotary.  The classification system gives Rotarians the dual responsibility of representing their vocation within the club and of exemplifying the ideals of Rotary within the workplace.



New members joining our club are encouraged to give a  Classification or ‘Job’ Talk to their fellow Rotarians.  This is something that was always been encouraged within Rotary.  In fact, looking back through old local newspapers, in 1926 the Rotary Club of Hucknall weekly meeting often included three members giving their job talk!  We can only guess the duration of those meetings!

PP Neil Sharman

As a member of our club, I enjoyed listening to the job talk of one of the long-standing members of the club and thought that it would be a good idea to ask some of our longest serving members to give their ‘job’ talks.  Last night, at our meeting, PP Neil Sharman addressed the club and those present were fascinated by Neil’s talk.  Much of what Neil shared was known, but there was plenty we didn’t know about Neil, and by Neil sharing his vocational experience, we develop deeper fellowship together as a Club.