''This article is about the people called professionals. For the movie, see The Professionals. For the TV series, see The Professionals.

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A professional provides a service in exchange for payment in accordance with established protocols for licensing, ethics, procedures, standards of service and training/certification. A professional is a member of a licensing body which is legally established within the laws of a given state, county, province or nation.

The term "professional" is widely used to refer to individuals with recognized expertise within a field of endeavor even though they are not a member of a licensing body or legal entity. The distinction between professional sports and amateur sports simply refers to how the athlete is funded. Similarly the distinction within creative pursuits between professional and amateur becomes somewhat grey.

Historically, 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 cases lacking a licensing body, the opposite of a professional is an amateur or, disparagingly, "rank amateur." Sometimes an amateur can perform as well or better than a professional. Therefore, in many fields a person must overcome a barrier before gaining recognition as a professional. Such barriers include academic degrees, certification, or licenses. Professions with such barriers include those of accountancy, architecture, medicine, engineering, law, and teaching. In the strictest sense, a profession is created by legislation and is self-regulating, e.g. through a Code of ethics.

Sport

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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 professionals should be allowed to compete in the Olympic Games. The motivation for money is sometimes seen as a corrupting influence, tainting a sport.

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 Pro-Ams, a new category of people that are pursuing amateur activities to professional standards.

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.

Equipment

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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 DMCA). This equipment is usually more expensive and sometimes unavailable to the general public.

See also

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• List of occupations
• Profession
• Professional development
• Professional sport

Occupations

Professionel | Profi | Beroepssporter | プロフェッショナル