What Differentiates Professions From Other Career Paths?

What are known as professions; Solicitors, Doctors, Accountants, as a few examples, differ from other career paths in a number of ways. Anybody who has studied to be an accredited professional will know that a big part of it is the organised education and qualification requirements to get to that point, but besides this there are other important factors you need to know and understand.

Professions are often self-governed, which is another important factor. This is important, as it means they are responsible for maintaining their own standards and regulating their members.  The most highly regarded professions, such as the medical and legal professions, also have the most over-bearing regulatory bodies, so you can consider this part of building a well respected profession key to success.

Another important factor is that these professions often come hand in hand with an intrinsic fiduciary responsibility. A fiduciary is a legal or ethical responsibility that one person bears for another. For professions like doctors, accountants and lawyers, this responsibility is enforceable through common law; meaning that a betrayal of that responsibility presents a significant risk of lawsuits and barring from practice.