[mlady]

I would argue the other way around. A "professional" gets paid for a job, full stop. A "vocation" derives from "to call", or someone's "calling", as in someone's purpose in life.

Maybe our etymology is what sets us up for work-life imbalance :)

[bumby]

>A "professional" gets paid for a job, full stop

Clergy was the first example where the term derived so I don't know if the roots of the word align with your definition. Granted, colloquial usage changes word meanings over time.