History Main / WhatExactlyIsHisJob

* Chandler's job was one of the enigmas of ''Series/{{Friends}}''. It is an office job in a company, but the actual role is a mystery - which leaves Monica and Rachel dumbfounded when their bet with Chandler and Joey hinges on knowing what's his job. Then, on Season 9, Monica points out what's his job - ''after'' he has resigned, which he, of course, [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]].

* Matt from ''Manga/DeathNote''. He's obviously employed somehow, unless Mello is supporting both of them, or his parents left him a big inheritance that he took with him when leaving Wammy's House. He has an apartment and food (even if most of it ''is'' junk food), and he has electricity and Wi-Fi, plus enough for luxuries like a {{Cyberpunk}} sofa, fairly nice clothes, [[MustHaveNicotine cigarettes by the pack]], and a CoolCar. But when we first see him, he's just sitting there playing video games, and in all his later appearances he's doing recon work for Mello (voluntarily, not as an employee). We don't see what he was or might have been doing prior to that, though since he is shown to be an accomplished computer hacker, he is thought to have done some professional computer-hacking (either legally or not-so-legally.)

* Kevin of ''WesternAnimation/ThreeTwoOnePenguins''. His EstablishingCharacterMoment in the very first episode, after the rest of the crew are introduced and their jobs explained, Jason asks what Kevin does, and at that moment Kevin accidentally gets himself sucked into a vacuum cleaner, and Zidgel says "Uh, mostly just does that." He actually was assigned to the ship by mistake, as somebody thought he was trained in reading instruments, he actually was trained in playing musical instruments, but they kept him on the ship anyway to do various jobs and because he often proves to have useful skills on mission, such as in a few episodes where he translates alien languages.

* ''Series/WandaVision'': Played for drama; while his coworkers claim he's good at his job, Vision has absolutely no idea what he even does for a living nor what the company does, and is the first sign that something's off about Westview.

* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'':
** Some of the members of [[Literature/XWingSeries Wraith Squadron]], most prominently Wes Janson and Falynn Sandskimmer in the team's eponymous novel. Both have [[JackOfAllTrades a wide variety of skills]] (he's an AcePilot and a good shot, with a grab bag of commando skills from the earlier anything-goes days of [[LaResistance the Rebel Alliance]], she's a thief, lock-breaker, and all-around smeak who picked up plenty of experience as a street kid) but [[MasterOfNone don't really excel in any one area]]. In Janson's case, he's ostensibly Wedge's NumberTwo, but Face and Kell are both being groomed very aggressively for that position and he's really the commander's moral support. In Falynn's, however, the trope turns tragic when, [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter driven by her perceived inferiority]], she tries to prove herself and takes too many risks on a mission [[spoiler: with [[AnyoneCanDie fatal consequences]]]].

* In the HBO mini-series ''Series/JohnAdams'', the title character laments that the office of Vice President of the United States seems an awful lot like this, which is TruthInTelevision, [[VicePresidentWho as the only official job responsibilities of the Vice President are to cast tie-breaking votes in the Senate and to take over if the President dies in office.]] Some Presidents have averted this by finding other duties for their Vice President to perform, and others played it straight by essentially ignoring them once the election's over.

* In ''{{Webcomic/Drowtales}}'' Faen's exact role in her squad is a bit murky. Due to her EmpaticHealer powers you would think she was the healer, but that's actually Shala, and she rarely does any actual fighting (to the point she only carries a shield).

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[[folder:Fanfic]]
* In the ''Fanfic/SupperSmashBrosMishonhFromGod'' reboot ''Mishonh From Trump'', Sara makes [[VideoGame/Persona5 Joker]] a major member of the cast and her primary love interest despite knowing nothing about him or the game he comes from, which she mentions several times. His contributions to fight scenes are generally written as "he does whatever he does in his home game".

* One ''ComicBook/{{Blondie}}'' strip has Dagwood's boss try to introduce Dagwood by job title to a visitor, only to realise that [[PointyHairedBoss he doesn't actually know what he's paying Dagwood to do.]]

* Series/JonathanCreek, at least in the sense that he seems to wear an awful lot of hats in his day-job as [[OnlySaneEmployee designated sane person]] and [[ManBehindTheMan the guy who makes most of the tricks work]] for the Adam Klaus Magic Show. Is he the stage manager, set designer, senior special effects technician or all three? It doesn't help that he's been referred to by at least two different job descriptions in two different episodes, both of them rather vague.

** Varric also apparently handles a lot of the more exotic procurement issues thanks to his extensive trade concepts. For instance he can supply Iron Bull with cocoa that nobody else has ever heard of.

* In the ''Fanfic/SupperSmashBrosMishonhFromGod'' reboot ''Mishonh From Trump'', Sara makes [[VideoGame/Persona5 Joker]] a major member of the cast and her primary love interest despite knowing nothing about him or the game he comes from, which she mentions several times.

* ''Series/DiplomaticImmunity'' plays this for laughs, as it's a WorkCom set in an embassy (for the fictional kingdom of Fe'ausi) - but it's vague on what most of the employees do. Jonah is the ambassador, but he's the king's brother and was given the position out of nepotism. It seems to be a similar case with Suga and Malepe. Mick is there mainly as a cover for his shady business deals. Meanwhile Kirsty the receptionist appears to be the only one who does any legitimate work in the embassy.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'' has Brother: while he's officially the leader of the Gullwings and pilots the ship, Yuna is unofficially TheFace of the crew (due to her fame) and is usually the one to make the big decisions, and as [[TheLancer Rikku]] points out, the ship flies better on auto-pilot. She then [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] the trope by wondering what Brother actually DOES for the crew.

* Everybody on Earth knows who Creator/WaltDisney is. But what his actual profession was is far more difficult to describe. Many see him as a cartoonist and an animator, yet Disney drew his last drawing in 1926. Others claim he is a film director, but he only directed a minor few of his movies himself. He is often credited as a wonderful creator and storyteller, but most of the character designs, ideas and technical innovations were thought up and done by other people. The best description may be 'film producer', seeing that Walt invested millions of money in his cartoons and used the profits back for new projects. He could also combine the talents of many people and make them enthusiastic for each new project. And of course he was also a voice actor for his own studio, providing Mickey Mouse's vocals until his voice became hoarse from years of smoking
** Walt frequently told the story of a little boy asking him what he did, and responding, "Sometimes I think of myself as a little bee. I go from one area of the studio to another and gather pollen and sort of stimulate everybody. I guess that’s the job I do.”

* If it looks like someone doesn't have a job ''at all'', they're likely a RichIdiotWithNoDayJob or a {{Socialite}}. %%There's probably more that we should YKTTW

** Tom Smykowski has a job whose duties seem so light and so nebulous that even he can barely describe his job in terms that make it sound like he does any actual work. He isn't in sales, he isn't a programmer, and he doesn't even really interact with clientele, prompting the Bobs to repeatedly ask "What would you say you ''do'' here?"

* Variant in ''Anime/AggressiveRetsuko'': We know what position several characters work in (Retsuko's an accountant, [[DubNameChange Eaglette/Washimi]] is a [[{{Pun}} secretary]], Ape Admin/Gori works in marketing, etc.), but we don't know what the company they work at ''does.''

* Bard's Tower, a company that coordinates and arranges writers and artists (called "the talent" during these operations) appearances at fandom conventions -- including making sure they have copies of books to sell, advertising their appearances, making sure the talent has hotel space, and so on. In addition to the talent, the company's booths always employ someone whose official job title is "LoM-ToP" (it means '''Lo'''w-'''M'''an on the '''To'''tem '''P'''ole"). This person's job is essentially to fix any problems that come up for the talent, including fetching bottles of water and lunches, informing fans of the talents movements, and in one notable case, ''literally'' fighting off a crazed fan who tried to attack one of the visiting writers until the on-site security could get there.