Work is not only a means of livelihood but also an important source of self-identification. "Occupation" is a category of such work which is based on  social prestige. The old established professions (e.g. medicine, law, the clergy) are ranked at the top of them.
 ln this paper the definition of professions in a review of relevant studies on the triad of profession,  professional and professionalization is discussed. The chapters are as follows: (1) occupational socialization, (2) professionals as a group, (3) para-professional (or semiprofessional)  seeking the status of professional. 
 In times of technological innovation many occupations are irresistibly becoming professionalized (or specialized) to meet the requirement of clients and  society.
 Sometimes such an effort bears fruit in the case of new professions (e.g. accountancy, engineering). These are recognized to be professions. However,   most of these fail, because they don't bring with them social prestige.
 In the end the recognized profession needs both occupational autonomy and social prestige; however, these are subjective.

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