Profession word brings a smile to the faces of professionals and fills the heart of professionals with a sense of pride, the profession in simple words refers to that work which requires special skill and knowledge so as to do a specialized job. In simple words, professionals are like moon just like moon shines among all other stars in the same way professionals shine among other employees or people due to profession having given unique features, in order to have a clear understanding about this concept one should look at some of the important features of the profession –
Characteristics of Profession
Rules and Regulations
The first and foremost feature of profession is that professionals have to follow a professional code of conduct and perform his or her services according to the code of conduct that is set by the apex professional body and failure to adhere to rules and regulations set by professional body can lead to debarment of professional from the profession by the apex professional body.
Restriction of Entry
Another important feature of the profession is that if nobody can become professional overnight rather the entry to a profession is restricted through an examination or through acquiring an educational degree. In simple words becoming a professional is not like a walk in the park because if you want to become a professional you have to first acquire knowledge and pass the examination set by the apex body of profession and then only you get the tag of professional which in turn results in only a few people getting the tag of professionals.
Professional Association and the Code of Conduct
All professions whether they are doctors, lawyers, certified public accountants and so on are affiliated to a professional association which regulates the entry, grants certificate of practice and formulates and enforces a code of conduct. Besides all these professionals are bound by a code of conduct set by the professional body which in turn guides the behavior of professionals towards their respective clients.
Professional Fees
In case of profession the professional earn income in the form of professional fees for the services rendered by the professional and these fees can vary greatly from one professional to others as professional fees is decided by many factors like location in which professional is rendering his or her service, experience of the professional, case which the professional is handling and so on.
Responsibility and Autonomy
Professionals are guided by a well-defined body of knowledge that can be acquired through instruction but they have full autonomy or control over their work while giving service to their clients. In simple words, they are not constrained by rules and regulations of the profession and they can be flexible if the situation demands so besides since they have a direct relationship with their clients their responsibility is also direct and they cannot run away from their responsibility towards their clients.
As one can see from the above that due to the profession is different from employment and business due to it having unique characteristic and that is the reason why one should not confuse it with employment and business.