Noun

Singular professional

Plural professionals

professional (plural professionals)

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

A professional is a member of a vocation founded upon specialised educational training.

The word professional traditionally means a person who has obtained a degree in a professional field. The term professional is used more generally to denote a white collar working person, or a person who performs commercially in a field typically reserved for hobbyists or amateurs.

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. Less technically, it may also refer to a person having impressive competence in a particular activity.

Work

Definition

Main criteria for professional include the following:

1. Academic qualifications - a doctoral or law degree - i.e., university college/institute.
2. Expert and specialised knowledge in field which one is practising professionally.
3. Excellent manual/practical and literary skills in relation to profession.
4. High quality work in (examples): creations, products, services, presentations, consultancy, primary/other research, administrative, marketing or other work endeavours.
5. 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).
6. Reasonable work moral and motivation. Having interest and desire to do a job well as well as holding positive attitude towards the profession are important elements in attaining a high level of professionalism.

In Britain and elsewhere, professionalism is often designated by Royal Charter.