professional
 This article is about people called professionals. For the movie, see The Professional or Leon. For the TV series, see The Professionals.
A professional is a person in a profession that requires certain types of skilled work requiring formal training or education. In western nations, such as the United States, the term commonly describes highly educated, mostly salaried workers, who enjoy considerable work autonomy, economic security, a comfortable salary, and are commonly engaged in creative and intellectually challenging work.[Gilbert, D. (1998). The American class structure: In an age of growing inequality. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Press.][Beeghley, L. (2004). The structure of social stratification in the United States. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.][Eichar, D. (1989). Occupation and class conciousness in America. Wesport, CT: Greewood Press.][Ehrenreich, B. (1989). Fear of falling: The inner life of the middle class. New York: Harper Prennial.] A professional athlete is someone who derives income by participating in competitive sports.[Glossary (from the Business Fast Start project of Rhode Island authorities)][Professional (definition via the WordNet, Princeton University)] Sometimes the term is also used to indicate a level of quality of goods or tools, sometimes also called "commercial grade".["What are Professional Grade Parts?" (example from the watertips.com website).]
Definition
A professional is a worker required to possess a large body of knowledge derived from extensive academic study (usually tertiary), with the training almost always formalized. Professionals are at least to a degree self-regulating, in that they control the training and evaluation processes that admit new persons to the field, and in judging whether the work done by their members is up to standard. This differs from other kinds of work where regulation (if considered necessary) is imposed by the state, or where official quality standards are often lacking. Professions have some historical links to guilds in these regards.
Professionals usually exercise autonomy in the workplace, and are expected to utilize their independent judgement and professional ethics in carrying out their responsibilities.[Definition of Terms to Support the ECSA Standards and Procedures System (from the Engineering Council of South Africa)] This holds true even if they are employees instead of working on their own. Typically a professional provides a service (in exchange for payment or salary), in accordance with established protocols for licensing, ethics, procedures, standards of service and training / certification.
The above definitions were echoed by economist and sociologist Max Weber, who noted that professions are defined by the power to exclude and control admission to the profession, as well as by the development of a particular vocabulary specific to the occupation, and at least somewhat incomprehensible to outsiders.
A 'true' professional must be proficient in all criteria for the field of work they are practising professionally in. Criteria include following:
Academic qualifications - i.e., university college/institute
Expert and specialised knowledge in field which one is practising professionally
Excellent manual/practical & literary skills in relation to profession
High quality work in (examples): creations, products, services, presentations, consultancy, primary/other research, administrative, marketing or other work endeavours
A high standard of professional ethics, behaviour and work activities while carrying out one's profession (as an employee, self-employed person, career, enterprise, business, company, or partnership/associate/colleague, etc.)
Also taking into consideration natural & harnessed talents integrated & used with qualifications & when doing work in professional capacity. These talents~skills are just as important in any forms of work be it paid, unpaid, volunteer, domestic jobs or any other work.
Trades
In narrow usage, not all expertise is considered a profession. Although sometimes referred to as professions, such occupations as skilled construction work are more generally thought of as trades or crafts. The completion of an apprenticeship is generally associated with skilled labor or trades such as carpenter, electrician, plumber, bricklayer and other similar occupations. A related (though not always valid) distinction would be that a professional does mainly mental or administrative work, as opposed to engaging in physical work. Many companies include the word professional in their company name to signify the quality of their workmanship or service.
Sport
In sports, a professional is someone who participates for money. The opposite is amateur, meaning a person who does not play for money, but in an academic (e.g. college football) or other private setting. The term "professional" is commonly used incorrectly when referring to sports, as the distinction simply refers to how the athlete is funded, and not necessarily to what competitions he engages in or what results he achieves.
Sometimes the professional status of an activity is controversial; for example, there is debate as to whether professionals should be allowed to compete in the Olympic Games. The motivation for money (either in rewards, salaries or advertising revenue) is sometimes seen as a corrupting influence, tainting a sport.
It has been suggested that the crude, all or nothing categories, of professional or amateur should be reconsidered. A historical shift is occurring with the rise of Pro-Ams, a new category of people that are pursuing amateur activities to professional standards.
See also
List of occupations
Profession
*Practice-based professional learning
*Professional development
*First professional degree
Professional sport
*Professional amateurs
Paraprofessional
References
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