Notable Differences between Amateurs and Professionals
The most notable differences between amateurs and professionals in any field aren’t necessarily the most obvious. Sometimes it’s the subtle differences that reveal the most about the amateur and the professional characters. As a member of an industry (live theatre) with a substantial number of amateurs and professionals working side-by-side (and plenty of experience on both sides of the cultural divide) this author has seen a number of small but noticeable differences between amateurs and professionals.
While a professional can and should love what they do their motivation may extend beyond their enthusiasm for the job to include the monetary rewards, while an amateur is there solely for the joy of the task at hand. While this can mean that the amateur will move on if their interest fades it can also mean that the professional will stick at a job long after their interest has waned, simply because they want to keep pulling in a pay check.
Amateurs often decry the highbrow nature of professionals snidely looking down on them as being unskilled and unfamiliar with their craft. This is especially true in the creative professions. While the professionals always rude and often incorrect when they make their derisive generalizations the most successful amateurs are the ones that accept and embrace the fact that they will never know as much or be as good at what they do as the professionals. Freed from the pursuit of “professional quality” and simply throwing themselves whole-heartedly into the joys of the activity many amateurs reach a level of proficiency greater than most of the professionals who turn up their noses at them.
True amateurs are not swept up in the glory or mystique that supposedly lies in the world of their professional counterparts – such amateurs are merely star-struck aspiring pros. For the true amateurs success is measured not in the quality of the performance (though quality remains paramount) but in the depth of the experience itself.
True professionals see no need to deride their amateur counterparts, seeing them not as threats to their livelihood but as non-competitive industry colleagues. They do not seem amateurs as unjustified competition, but simply as people with an approach that differs from theirs. The true professional has the courtesy to allow amateurs to express and enjoy their craft without making them feel inferior.
The only thing that really separates amateurs and professionals is a pay check. The most notable difference between amateurs and professionals is that far more amateurs than professionals know this to be true.
