Profession

We explain what a profession is, how it is acquired, its characteristics and examples. Also, differences between profession and trade.

What is a profession?

When we talk about a profession, we usually refer to a job or dedication that we carry out in exchange for financial remuneration and for which we have trained or prepared through the acquisition of specialized knowledge. In the latter it differs from a trade, although colloquially both terms are used as synonyms.

The word profession comes from Latin professionaltranslatable as “occupation”, and which in turn is made up of Latin voices pro- (“ahead”) and fateri (“confess” or “admit”), since it is linked to the verb professwhich means “follow a doctrine, belief or religion.”

So, in principle, having a profession implies following a specific doctrine to carry out a job: a doctrine that is precisely controlled and transmitted by the institutions in charge of training professionals.

Professions are acquired in academies or institutes of higher education, and consist of the management of a series of specialized knowledge which allow us to solve problems that others cannot, or in any case, in the best possible way. This implies not only a specialized method, but also a deontological code (or professional ethical code) that contains the moral rules by which any professional must be guided.

Professions emerged hand in hand with higher education, as work became more and more specific, requiring highly qualified workers, that is, endowed with knowledge different from popular knowledge. This trend increased as sciences and techniques became an everyday tool in the workplace, in the world after the Industrial Revolution.

See also: Professionalism

Characteristics of a profession

Any profession is characterized by the following features:

• They comprise a series of specific knowledge that can only be acquired through academic training and not mere practice.
• are accompanied by a professional code of ethics and on some occasions a collegiate body that ensures compliance and grants legitimacy to the practitioners of said profession.
• exist in literally all areas of human knowledge and can be classified into technical or applied professions (those that are oriented toward solving everyday problems) and academic professions (those that are oriented toward the accumulation and review of knowledge).
• are exclusive in the sense that a person without the necessary training cannot perform the work of a professional, or at least not in the same way and expecting the same results.
• The profession can be put into practice or not since a professional in one area can dedicate themselves to a different profession, if they meet the conditions for it.

Examples of professions

The following are examples of today's professions:

• Architect
• Psychologist
• Teaching
• Computer technician
• Engineer
• Doctor
• Writer
• Economist
• political scientist
• Historian
• Librarian
• Chemical
• Administrator
• Geologist
• Counter

Differences between profession and trade

The main difference that exists between a trade and a profession is that A trade can be practiced by anyone who takes the time to learn the necessary method or technique to carry it out, through direct experience.

On the other hand, a profession requires a body of specialized knowledge that can only be acquired through study, and which therefore empowers the professional to carry out highly specialized tasks.

In other words, trades are learned over time, with practice, and can be performed by virtually anyone. Instead, Professions require a wealth of highly specialized knowledge available only to a professional.

For example: we allow a doctor to operate on us because he is a highly trained professional to carry out a delicate work, on which our lives depend; something that not everyone could learn through trial and error (and certainly not at the same human cost).

On the other hand, it is possible for a doctor to dedicate his free time to learning the craft of carpentry through trial and error, until he acquires enough ease to make a decent chair. It is not, obviously, that one job is better than the other, but that one can be acquired through specialized training, and the other requires exercise and practice.

Continue with: Vocation

References

• “Profession” in Wikipedia.
• “Office” in Wikipedia.
• “Profession” in the Dictionary of the language of the Royal Spanish Academy.
• “What is a profession?” in General Council of Physical and Sports Education (Spain).