Wikitionary:

profession

[edit] Noun

profession (plural professions)



An occupation, trade, craft, or activity in which one has a professed expertise in a particular area; a job, especially one requiring a high level of skill or training.


Wikipedia:
Profession
A profession is a vocation founded upon specialized educational training, the purpose of which is to supply disinterested counsel and service to others, for a direct and definite compensation, wholly apart from expectation of other business gain.[1]

Wikitionary:
Professional
Noun


A person who belongs to a profession
A person who earns his living from a specified activity
An expert.
Adjective

professional (comparative more professional, superlative most professional)

Of, pertaining to, or in accordance with the (usually high) standards of a profession.
That is carried out for money, especially as a livelihood
(by extension) Expert

Wikipedia:
Professional
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see The Professionals.

A professional is a person who is paid to undertake a specialised set of tasks and to complete them for a fee. The traditional professions were doctors, lawyers, clergymen, and commissioned military officers. Today, the term is applied to estate agents, surveyors, environmental scientists, forensic scientists, educators, and many more. The term is also used in sports to differentiate amateur players from those who are paid — hence "professional footballer" and "professional golfer".

In some cultures, the term is used as shorthand to describe a particular social stratum of well educated, mostly salaried workers, who enjoy considerable work autonomy, a comfortable salary, and are commonly engaged in creative and intellectually challenging work.[1][2][3][4] Less technically, it may also refer to a person having impressive competence in a particular activity.[5]

Because of the personal and confidential nature of many professional services and thus the necessity to place a great deal of trust in them, most professionals are subject to strict codes of conduct enshrining rigorous ethical and moral obligations.
Contents
[hide]

1 Work
1.1 Definition
1.2 Trades
2 Sports
3 Criticisms
4 See also
5 References

[edit] Work
[edit] Definition

The main criteria for professional include the following:

Expert and specialized knowledge in field which one is practicing professionally.[6]
Excellent manual/practical and literary skills in relation to profession.[7]
High quality work in (examples): creations, products, services, presentations, consultancy, primary/other research, administrative, marketing, photography 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.). The professional owes a higher duty to a client, often a privilege of confidentiality, as well as a duty not to abandon the client just because he or she may not be able to pay or remunerate the professional. Often the professional is required to put the interest of the client ahead of his own interests.
Reasonable work morale and motivation. Having interest and desire to do a job well as holding positive attitude towards the profession are important elements in attaining a high level of professionalism.
Participating for gain or livelihood in an activity or field of endeavour often engaged in by amateurs b : having a particular profession as a permanent career c : engaged in by persons receiving financial return[6]
Appropriate treatment of relationships with colleagues. Consideration should be shown to elderly, junior or inexperienced colleagues, as well as those with special needs. An example must be set to perpetuate the attitude of one's business without doing it harm.
A professional is an expert who is master in a specific field.

[edit] Trades

In narrow usage, not all expertise is considered a profession. Although sometimes referred to as professions, occupations such as skilled construction and maintenance 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, Lineman and other similar occupations. A related distinction (and very valid) 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 store name to signify the quality of their workmanship or service.

I despise how these two words have come to be used for every menial kind of job. Sorry but a maid who cleans hotel rooms is not a professional and being a maid is not a profession. A 17 year old working at McDonald's is not a professional working at McD is not a profession.
I have worked in food service and retail for 20+ years but just because I know what I'm doing does not mean I am a professional and nor does it mean that my jobs should be called professions.

To me a profession is something that demands higher education or specific training like a Teacher, Doctor, Lawyer, Electriction, Plumbers and Carpenters.
A job that does not need higher education or specific training and only pays 10 cents or even one dollar more than minimum wage is not a profession nor are they professionals.

Maybe I'm a snob but I resent and despise the use of profession and professional for what I do.