Professional
From Encyclopedia Jr, free information reference for Kids
- This article is about the people called professionals. For the movie, see
A professional is required to possess a large knowledge derived from extensive academic and practical training. Professional skills are important to the well-being of society. Professions are self-regulating, in that they control the training and evaluation processes that admit new persons to the field. Professionals have autonomy in the workplace; they are expected to utilize their independent judgment in carrying out their professional responsibilities. Finally, professions are regulated by ethical standards.
Typically a professional provides a service in exchange for payment in accordance with established protocols for licensing, ethics, procedures, standards of service and training/certification. However, at all times a professional is cognizant that their first and foremost responsibility is to the public welfare.
The term "professional" is commonly used incorrectly. The distinction between professional sports and amateur sports simply refers to how the athlete is funded. Typically, behaving professionally would indicate that the person's actions remain in accordance with specific rules, written or unwritten, pertaining to behavior, dress, speech, etc. By extension, the adjective professional identified somebody recognized for expertise or skill in a craft or activity.
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, and other similar occupations.
In the strictest sense, the professional fields are limited to accounting, architecture, engineering, law, medicine, officers, and the clergy.
[edit] Sport
In sports, a professional is someone who participates for money. The opposite is amateur, meaning a person that has not played for money, but usually through an academic setting (e.g. college football).
Sometimes the professional status of an activity is controversial, for example there is debate as to whether or not
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
In chess, a professional generally means a player with an official ranking. Amateurs are those without official rankings, they have never played in a 'ranked' game.
[edit] Equipment
Professional-grade equipment is built to higher standards than consumer grade equipment. Copyright laws that require copy protection in consumer equipment sometimes contain exemptions for professional grade audio (audio tape, CD) and video (VHS, DVD players) equipment (see
[edit] See also
- Profession