Job vs. Profession: Know the Difference
By Shumaila Saeed || Updated on December 25, 2023
A job is a specific task or role, typically for pay, while a profession is a career field requiring specialized training and qualifications.
Key Differences
A job is a specific position or role that a person fills within an organization, typically to earn money. A profession, on the other hand, refers to a field of work that usually requires specialized education, training, and a formal qualification.
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Nov 18, 2023
Jobs may require varying levels of skill and training, and some may not require formal education. Professions typically require a higher level of education, often including degrees, certifications, and continuous professional development.
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A job can be seen as a short-term position or something one does simply to earn a living. A profession is often a long-term career path and forms a significant part of one's identity.
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Many professions are regulated by professional bodies that set standards, ethics, and ongoing learning requirements. Jobs, in contrast, are generally not regulated in this way and have more flexibility in terms of standards and practices.
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In a job, advancement might be limited to promotions or raises within a specific role or company. In a profession, advancement includes not only promotions but also growth in expertise, reputation, and contributions to the field.
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Comparison Chart
Definition
A specific role or task, often for pay.
A career field requiring specialized training and qualifications.
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Requirement
Varies, often specific to the role.
Typically requires formal education and training.
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Duration and Commitment
Can be short-term or long-term.
Often a long-term career choice.
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Regulation
Generally not regulated by professional bodies.
Often regulated, with standards and ethics overseen by professional bodies.
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Identity and Growth
Seen as a means to earn a living.
Forms a significant part of personal identity and includes professional growth.
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Job and Profession Definitions
Job
A paid position of regular employment.
She just got a new job at a marketing firm.
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Profession
An occupation requiring specialized knowledge and often long and intensive academic preparation.
Medicine is a highly respected profession.
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Job
A task or piece of work, especially one that is paid.
His job was to repair the car.
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Profession
A paid occupation, especially one that involves prolonged training and formal qualification.
She pursued a profession in law after graduating.
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Job
A responsibility or duty.
It's my job to ensure the project is completed on time.
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Profession
A body of people engaged in a particular occupation.
The profession of architecture has evolved greatly over the years.
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Job
A role requiring a particular set of skills or labor.
She's looking for a job in graphic design.
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Profession
An occupation with high status, typically requiring formal qualifications.
His ambition was to join the legal profession.
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Job
A regular activity performed in exchange for payment, especially as one's trade, occupation, or profession
Her job is doing drug research.
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Profession
An occupation or career
"One of the highest compliments a child can pay a parent is to choose his or her profession" (Joan Nathan).
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Profession
An occupation, such as law, medicine, or engineering, that requires considerable training and specialized study.
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Profession
The body of qualified persons in an occupation or field
Members of the teaching profession.
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Job
A specified duty or responsibility
Your job is to watch the kids while we're away.
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Job
(Informal) A difficult or strenuous task
It's a real job getting people to help out at these events.
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Job
A specific piece of work to be done for a set fee
An expensive repair job.
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Job
Something resulting from or produced by work
I like the job they did on those shrubs.
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Profession
(religion) A promise or vow made on entering a religious order.
She died only a few years after her profession.
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Job
An operation done to improve one's appearance, or the result of such an operation. Often used in combination
A face job.
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Profession
The declaration of belief in the principles of a religion; hence, one's faith or religion.
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Job
(Computers) A program application that may consist of several steps but is performed as a single logical unit.
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Profession
Any declaration of belief, faith or one's opinion, whether genuine or (as now often implied) pretended.
Despite his continued professions of innocence, the court eventually sentenced him to five years.
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Job
(Informal) A state of affairs
Their marriage was a bad job from the start. It's a good job that we left early to avoid the traffic.
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Profession
An occupation, trade, craft, or activity in which one has a professed expertise in a particular area; a job, especially one requiring a high level of skill or training.
My father was a barrister by profession.
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Job
(Informal) An example of a specified type, especially of something made or constructed. Often used in combination
A new building that is just another glass and steel job.
A cowboy hat that is one of those ten-gallon jobs.
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Profession
(collective) The practitioners of such an occupation collectively.
His conduct is against the established practices of the legal profession.
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Profession
The act of professing or claiming; open declaration; public avowal or acknowledgment; as, professions of friendship; a profession of faith.
A solemn vow, promise, and profession.
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Profession
That which one professed; a declaration; an avowal; a claim; as, his professions are insincere.
The Indians quickly perceive the coincidence or the contradiction between professions and conduct.
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Profession
That of which one professed knowledge; the occupation, if not mechanical, agricultural, or the like, to which one devotes one's self; the business which one professes to understand, and to follow for subsistence; calling; vocation; employment; as, the profession of arms; the profession of a clergyman, lawyer, or physician; the profession of lecturer on chemistry.
Hi tried five or six professions in turn.
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Profession
The collective body of persons engaged in a calling; as, the profession distrust him.
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Profession
The act of entering, or becoming a member of, a religious order.
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Profession
The body of people in a learned occupation;
The news spread rapidly through the medical community
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Job
To arrange for (contracted work) to be done in portions by others; subcontract.
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Profession
An occupation requiring special education (especially in the liberal arts or sciences)
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Profession
An open avowal (true or false) of some belief or opinion;
A profession of disagreement
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Profession
Affirmation of acceptance of some religion or faith;
A profession of Christianity
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Profession
A vocation or career, especially one that involves significant skill, knowledge, or training.
Teaching is a profession that requires both skill and passion.
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Job
An economic role for which a person is paid.
That surgeon has a great job.
He's been out of a job since being made redundant in January.
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Job
(computing) A task, or series of tasks, carried out in batch mode (especially on a mainframe computer).
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Job
A public transaction done for private profit; something performed ostensibly as a part of official duty, but really for private gain; a corrupt official business.
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Job
Any affair or event which affects one, whether fortunately or unfortunately.
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Job
(colloquial) A thing (often used in a vague way to refer to something whose name one cannot recall).
Pass me that little job with the screw thread on it.
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Job
The police as a profession, act of policing, or an individual police officer.
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Job
To subcontract a project or delivery in small portions to a number of contractors.
We wanted to sell a turnkey plant, but they jobbed out the contract to small firms.
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Job
(intransitive) To seek private gain under pretence of public service; to turn public matters to private advantage.
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Job
A piece of chance or occasional work; any definite work undertaken in gross for a fixed price; as, he did the job for a thousand dollars.
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Job
A public transaction done for private profit; something performed ostensibly as a part of official duty, but really for private gain; a corrupt official business.
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Job
Any affair or event which affects one, whether fortunately or unfortunately.
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Job
A task, or the execution of a task; as, Michelangelo did a great job on the David statue.
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Job
A task or coordinated set of tasks for a multitasking computer, submitted for processing as a single unit, usually for execution in background. See job control language.
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Job
The hero of the book of that name in the Old Testament; the prototypical patient man.
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Job
To do or cause to be done by separate portions or lots; to sublet (work); as, to job a contract.
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Job
To buy and sell, as a broker; to purchase of importers or manufacturers for the purpose of selling to retailers; as, to job goods.
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Job
To hire or let by the job or for a period of service; as, to job a carriage.
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Job
To do chance work for hire; to work by the piece; to do petty work.
Authors of all work, to job for the season.
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Job
To seek private gain under pretense of public service; to turn public matters to private advantage.
And judges job, and bishops bite the town.
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Job
The principal activity in your life that you do to earn money;
He's not in my line of business
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Job
A specific piece of work required to be done as a duty or for a specific fee;
Estimates of the city's loss on that job ranged as high as a million dollars
The job of repairing the engine took several hours
The endless task of classifying the samples
The farmer's morning chores
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Job
The performance of a piece of work;
She did an outstanding job as Ophelia
He gave it up as a bad job
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Job
An object worked on; a result produced by working;
He held the job in his left hand and worked on it with his right
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Job
A state of difficulty that needs to be resolved;
She and her husband are having problems
It is always a job to contact him
Urban problems such as traffic congestion and smog
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Job
A damaging piece of work;
Dry rot did the job of destroying the barn
The barber did a real job on my hair
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Job
A crime (especially a robbery);
The gang pulled off a bank job in St. Louis
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Job
A Jewish hero in the Old Testament who maintained his faith in God in spite of afflictions that tested him
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Job
(computer science) a program application that may consist of several steps but is a single logical unit
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Job
A book in the Old Testament containing Job's pleas to God about his afflictions and God's reply
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Job
Invest at a risk;
I bought this house not because I want to live in it but to sell it later at a good price, so I am speculating
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Job
A specific activity done as part of one's occupation.
Writing reports is an important part of his job.
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Repeatedly Asked Queries
Can a job lead to a profession?
Yes, through gaining experience and qualifications.
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What defines a job?
A specific role or position, often with a focus on earning income.
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How do professional bodies influence professions?
They set standards, ethics, and continuing education requirements.
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What is essential for a profession?
Specialized training, education, and often formal qualifications.
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Is formal education always required for a profession?
Typically, yes, although some professions also value experience.
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What distinguishes a profession from a job in terms of commitment?
A profession typically involves a long-term commitment and personal identity.
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Are all jobs part of a profession?
No, many jobs don't require the specialized training characteristic of professions.
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Can a profession include various types of jobs?
Yes, a profession can encompass a range of specialized roles.
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Can a job become a profession?
Yes, if it evolves into a long-term career with required expertise and training.
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Are jobs more flexible than professions?
Generally, yes, as they are less regulated and can vary widely.
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How does job advancement differ from professional growth?
Job advancement is often within a company, while professional growth encompasses broader skill and reputation development.
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Can one switch professions easily?
It can be challenging due to the specific qualifications and training required.
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How does one enter a profession?
Through education, training, and often certification or licensure.
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How does one progress in a profession?
Through continuous learning, skill development, and professional contributions.
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Is experience valued more in a job or a profession?
In professions, both education and experience are highly valued.
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What role does a profession play in society?
Professions contribute specialized skills and knowledge to society.
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Is a profession always linked to higher education?
Generally, yes, though some professions also emphasize practical experience.
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What is the significance of a profession in one’s life?
It often defines one's career path and personal identity.
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Can a job exist outside a profession?
Yes, many jobs don't fall under the umbrella of a formal profession.
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Are job opportunities more varied than professional ones?
Yes, due to the wide range of skills and tasks that jobs can encompass.
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Nov 18, 2023
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About Author
Written by
Shumaila SaeedShumaila Saeed, an expert content creator with 6 years of experience, specializes in distilling complex topics into easily digestible comparisons, shining a light on the nuances that both inform and educate readers with clarity and accuracy.
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