vocation

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun A regular occupation, especially one for which a person is particularly suited or qualified.
• noun An inclination or aptness for a certain kind of work.
• noun Theology A calling of an individual by God, especially for a religious career.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun A calling or designation to a particular activity, office, or duty; a summons; a call; in theology, a call, under God's guidance, to the Christian life or some special state, service, or ministry.
• noun Employment; occupation; avocation; calling; business; trade: including professions as well as mechanical occupations. See avocation, 5.
• noun Synonyms Calling, Business, etc. See occupation.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun A call; a summons; a citation; especially, a designation or appointment to a particular state, business, or profession.
• noun Destined or appropriate employment; calling; occupation; trade; business; profession.
• noun (Theol.) A calling by the will of God.
• noun The bestowment of God's distinguishing grace upon a person or nation, by which that person or nation is put in the way of salvation.
• noun A call to special religious work, as to the ministry.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun An inclination to undertake a certain kind of work, especially a religious career; often in response to a perceived summons; a calling.
• noun An occupation for which a person is suited, trained or qualified.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun the particular occupation for which you are trained
• noun a body of people doing the same kind of work