What does it mean to be a professional?

[joesxm3]

I saw this term used in a thread today and it reminded me that I had always wondered what it meant to be a "professional".

Does it mean you have to be a doctor or lawyer?

I worked in the computer business in various roles, include g high-priced contract programmer and later I had the title of "director" at a company that at times was traded on the stock exchange. Does that pass the cut?

 

[Dtail]

I saw this term used in a thread today and it reminded me that I had always wondered what it meant to be a "professional".

Does it mean you have to be a doctor or lawyer?

I worked in the computer business in various roles, include g high-priced contract programmer and later I had the title of "director" at a company that at times was traded on the stock exchange. Does that pass the cut?

Umm yes....

 

[Car-Guy]

Besides doctors and lawyers, I can tell you what it means in Nevada to a lot of people.

No matter what your profession is, being a professional doesn't mean you know what you are doing or that you are any good at it... In my case I spent over 40 years in the same "field/profession" and I even earned a couple of industry related top professional certifications. I had a bunch of letters behind my name and my fancy title but I never felt I was anything special in my chosen field...

 

[Gumby]

I would say that a "profession" typically has specialized knowledge, typically reflected in specific education and training requirements, including some sort of governmental licensure barrier to entry, which serves to limit the numbers in that profession. There are also usually professional organizations (membership in which is often mandatory) that set and uphold standards of conduct in the profession, violation of which can lead to removal from the profession. Many, if not most, professions have a distinct vocabulary related to their particular area of expertise that is not readily understandable to outsiders. Also, many professionals tend to internalize their profession as part of their identity. Finally, I think that for many professions there is an expectation, by both those in the profession and those outside, that the members of the profession have some enhanced responsibility to the common weal/public good.

I don't see this list as either exhaustive or exclusive, but these are the characteristics that I observe most professions to have in common.

 

[Dash man]

To me a professional is someone who makes a career of their occupation, continues to keep up with or assist in advancing new technologies or other developments in their field, and assists in training others entering the profession.

 

[disneysteve]

At the most basic level, it means it is your profession and not just a random job. I wouldn't say I'm a professional burger flipper if I worked at McDonald's but I might say I'm a food service professional if I owned the McDonald's.


Certainly what you described would make you a professional in your field.

 

[Katsmeow]

What Gumby said.

 

[travelover]

To me a professional is someone who makes a career of their occupation, continues to keep up with or assist in advancing new technologies or other developments in their field, and assists in training others entering the profession.

Right, like the world's oldest profession.

 

[MC Rider]

Being a professional means keeping a stiff upper lip and not going off on the idiot who asks you to do some thing that is not your job, or worse unethical.


Also, I second what Gumby said.

 

[dunkelblau]

In engineering it means that you have a PE license after passing the FE and PE exams. I've worked over three decades in engineering without this, and I don't aim to retire into a role providing engineering services to the public or expert witness testimony, so becoming a Professional is not on my bucket list.

 

[youbet]

I was a professional blue collar worker.

 

[youbet]

Being a professional means keeping a stiff upper lip and not going off on the idiot who asks you to do some thing that is not your job

That sounds more like being a union member.

 

[Badger]

I don't see where it really matters except when applying for a job. Then they will make the decision for you.


Cheers!

 

[pb4uski]

What Gumby said.

+1 like lawyers, doctors, accountants, architects, engineers, etc. and they are typically licensed by the government or accredited by a professional organization.

from Wikipedia:

A Profession is a disciplined group of individuals who adhere to ethical standards and who hold themselves out as, and are accepted by the public as possessing special knowledge and skills in a widely recognised body of learning derived from research, education and training at a high level, and who are prepared to apply this knowledge and exercise these skills in the interest of others.

A profession is also an occupation founded upon specialized educational training, the purpose of which is to supply disinterested objective counsel and service to others, for a direct and definite compensation, wholly apart from expectation of other business gain. Medieval and early modern tradition recognized only three professions: divinity, medicine, and law, which were called the learned professions. A profession is not a trade and not an industry.

The term profession is a truncation of the term liberal profession, which is, in turn, an Anglicization of the French term profession libérale. Originally borrowed by English users in the 19th century, it has been re-borrowed by international users from the late 20th, though the (upper-middle) class overtones of the term do not seem to survive re-translation: "liberal professions" are, according to the European Union's Directive on Recognition of Professional Qualifications (2005/36/EC), "those practised on the basis of relevant professional qualifications in a personal, responsible and professionally independent capacity by those providing intellectual and conceptual services in the interest of the client and the public".

Some professions change slightly in status and power, but their prestige generally remains stable over time, even if the profession begins to have more required study and formal education. Disciplines formalized more recently, such as architecture, now have equally long periods of study associated with them.

Although professions may enjoy relatively high status and public prestige, not all professionals earn high salaries, and even within specific professions there exist significant differences in salary. In law, for example, a corporate defense lawyer working on an hourly basis may earn several times what a prosecutor or public defender earns.

 

[ERD50]

Like most things, "it depends".

How you use the term depends upon context. It can simply mean being paid, as in "amateur" vs "professional".

First google hit on "amateur":

am·a·teur

noun: amateur; plural noun: amateurs

1. a person who engages in a pursuit, especially a sport, on an unpaid rather than a professional basis.


adjective
adjective: amateur

1. engaging or engaged in without payment; nonprofessional.
"amateur athletics"

And as was just mentioned by dunkelblau, in engineering circles "Professional Engineer" has a very specific meaning, you earned/maintained your license, passed the exams, can testify in court, etc. To refer to yourself as a "Professional Engineer"
w/o those specific credentials would be fraudulent.

-ERD50

 

[ShokWaveRider]

I would guess in general as there are exceptions to everything, practicing what one was highly educated for. For Example and Engineering Degree, Medical, Law, Business, etc. I do not think a plumber, electrician, grave digger, welder, or most Blue collar workers would be considered Professionals. But honestly it is a good question, as I think we assume, Doctors, Lawyers and Indian Chiefs qualify for the handle.

 

[SnowballCamper]

I think the noun, as in the original question about "a professional" is pretty clear, as described in the quote from wikipedia above.

The ambiguity comes from the use as an adjective to describe some activity or person's actions in a general sense.

 

[razztazz]

That sounds more like being a union member.

Ha, ha, yes but the union guy's got a contract. I think that's supposed to mean something. Dagwood Bumstead and Darrin Stevens have to jump directly for Mr Dithers and Larry Tate, ostensibly for the big bucks

 

[joesxm3]

What I was thinking of when I asked the question was sparked by comments like "want to live in a gated community with other professionals" or "seeking male professional for sex and long walks on the beach."

Sounds like snobbery to me. Like people who insist on being called doctor in social settings.

 

[ProGolferWannabe]

I saw this term used in a thread today and it reminded me that I had always wondered what it meant to be a "professional".



Does it mean you have to be a doctor or lawyer?



I worked in the computer business in various roles, include g high-priced contract programmer and later I had the title of "director" at a company that at times was traded on the stock exchange. Does that pass the cut?

Charging a fixed and agreed upon fee for a service or product. I would consider a physician who charges $5000 to do a procedure a professional…she cuts you open and spending on what she finds, it may take her 2 hours or 10 hours to address the issue. But regardless, they charge the same fee…$5000. I would NOT consider a CFP who charges a fee based on AUM or an attorney who charges by the hour not to be professionals. It does not mean they don’t do important and/or meaningful work, but their fee is not fixed.

 

[kgtest]

I often wondered what the difference between a "career" and a "job" was lol.

I sort of told myself, after I started making X dollars per annual basis doing similar type work consistently, it was no longer a job, and considered my career.

I trim trees but have debated with my wife that she feels I am not a "professional" since I just started doing it. Versus what...an amateur who just does it as DIY, or possibly unpaid? I do own the business, and I am the boss..but can I claim Pro

I have been an engineer for over 15 years doing similar type of work. To me that is my career, as It has earned me the lions share of my income throughout my life. But some still debate whether I am even actually an engineer by definition.

So maybe I just have multiple jobs at the end of the day.

Based on my number of posts, I am starting to get a third profession as an "influencer" on ER.org lmao

 

[Gumby]

Charging a fixed and agreed upon fee for a service or product.

By that token, the kid who cuts my lawn is a professional. I pay him a fixed $20 and he can go as fast or as slow as he wants. If the grass is longer, it's harder to cut, but it's still $20. Same with the barista at the Starbucks. I pay him a fixed price to make me a half-caf double latte vente cappucino, and he has to make it for me, despite any and all obstacles.

 

[HawkOwl]

I would say that a "profession" typically has specialized knowledge, typically reflected in specific education and training requirements, including some sort of governmental licensure barrier to entry, which serves to limit the numbers in that profession. There are also usually professional organizations (membership in which is often mandatory) that set and uphold standards of conduct in the profession, violation of which can lead to removal from the profession. Many, if not most, professions have a distinct vocabulary related to their particular area of expertise that is not readily understandable to outsiders. Also, many professionals tend to internalize their profession as part of their identity. Finally, I think that for many professions there is an expectation, by both those in the profession and those outside, that the members of the profession have some enhanced responsibility to the common weal/public good.

I don't see this list as either exhaustive or exclusive, but these are the characteristics that I observe most professions to have in common.

Best definition ever.

 

[ProGolferWannabe]

By that token, the kid who cuts my lawn is a professional. I pay him a fixed $20 and he can go as fast or as slow as he wants. If the grass is longer, it's harder to cut, but it's still $20. Same with the barista at the Starbucks. I pay him a fixed price to make me a half-caf double latte vente cappucino, and he has to make it for me, despite any and all obstacles.

I would agree with your statement. I don’t think being a professional pertains to the job one performs, how they dress, the amount of education one requires to do the task, etc. To me it reflects the manner in which one agrees to be compensated (as I described above). When I was a kid cutting grass, I was certainly more of professional than I was in much of my adult working career where my pay was based on hours worked. But what do I know?

 

[crule42]

I always considered a professional a "guy from out of town with a briefcase."