The Encyclopedia of Interactive Performance

A character’s position can be defined as a profession or an occupation. The words might seem similar, but there's an important difference. Professions are how characters spend their time making an income (e.g., soldier, nurse, prostitute). Occupations take just as much time, but don’t produce an income (e.g., royalty, homemaker, student). When coming up with a character’s position, consider both professions and occupations. It keeps positions from being exclusively defined by the way that people make money.