Professionals are people who are distinguished by high quality of the work they carry out and by the level of responsibility in the process.
They are always searching for new effective techniques and approaches to their work in order to improve it, showing initiative in developing new directions in their professional field. People who are able to analyze their work are valued higher than those who are just following the instructions.
They learn from successes and mistakes of their colleagues and use this knowledge in their own work. If you want to become a real professional in software testing company you should analyze the work of experienced software testers trying to notice what exactly they do.
For example, conducting web site testing or mobile application testing they are not likely to open more bugs than the others. But maybe their reports are more detailed and clear or they have additional documentation, such as network traces and dumps. Maybe a person even analyzes the data from the bug report. Serious bugs with detailed analysis are much more valuable in the process of creating top-quality software.
It is clear to professionals why things are done in a certain way. This allows them to analyze their work and to improve it. Without this understanding they would do their work without even thinking. Instead, they increase own comprehension of their tasks. This allows them to take control of their activities and to develop themselves.
If a professional understands his final goal in a certain part of work, he may find a better way to carry it out. If some problems arise because the team members don’t have efficient communication, a professional looks for the ways to settle them.
A professional is able to understand the source of the problems and prevent them in his own interactions, or he may suggest some ways of problem solving to management.