History Main / ObliquelyObfuscatedOccupation

* ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}''. The title character is an engineer (along with most of the rest of the cast), and there are references to creating software, but that's about as much details as you're going to get.

* It may come as a surprise that WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck is apparently not a sailor, but describes himself as "an actor" in ''WesternAnimation/TheNewSpirit''. Even his pen is in doubt as he puts a question mark behind this profession. ''Series/DuckTales'' actually portrayed him as a sailor, explaining his absence and why his nephews are living with Uncle Scrooge.

* In the family sitcom ‘’SerieS/{{Leave It to Beaver}}‘’, Head of the family Ward Cleaver’s job was never specifically stated, other then that it was some sort of office job.

* In the family sitcom ‘’series/LEAVEITTOBEAVER‘’, Head of the family Ward Cleaver’s job was never specifically stated, other then that it was some sort of office job.

Not to be confused with WhatExactlyIsHisJob, that's about a character with a rotating or undefined role on the team itself. Contrast ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything wherein a person's ''nominal'' job is known as well as how it's supposed to work, but they just don't do it.

* ''Series/TheOffice:''

* The faculty of Unseen University in ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' all have grandiose academic titles, but since none of them have any contact with students if they can avoid it, it's not clear what these titles require them to ''do''. This gets a LampshadeHanging in the short story "[[http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/features/a-collegiate-casting-out-of-devilish-devices/195991.article A Collegiate Casting-Out of Devilish Devices]]":

* No one really knows what [=IDs=] from ''LeastICouldDo'' does.

* While most of the characters in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' have reasonably defined ways of supporting themselves, after five seasons Fluttershy's job still remains extremely vague. Is she a vet? Is she a ecologist? An animal trainer? A farmer maybe? She's been seen doing a bit of all of them, but what she actually gets paid for is anyone's guess.

--> '''Hugh''': Howdy boys! Hey Jimbo, better start packin', we gotta move at the end of the week if I want to keep my job.
--> '''Jimmy''': We're ''moving?!''
--> '''Carl''': You're ''moving?!''
--> '''Sheen''': Your dad has a ''job?!''

A classic sitcom trope where a character (or an entire company, in some examples) has an occupation but no details are ever revealed to the audience, or occasionally to any other characters. Usually played for laughs as their job can contain as many NoodleIncident events as possible, or the character will expect all others to know what he does and be disappointed when nobody can name it. For the character example, this trope is not to be confused with PointyHairedBoss; this character is generally competent, just nobody knows what their position is or what it actually entails.

Related to ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything. Not to be confused with WhatExactlyIsHisJob, that's about a character with a rotating role on the team itself.

* In one of the stories of ''S.O.S. Bonheur'', a man got a job in a firm, in which no employee knows the purpose of his daily job. They are analyzing numbers but have no idea what those numbers represent. It is later revealed that [[spoiler: the so-called democratic government is a dictatorship, and this company is spying on everybody so that the CEO of the firm, who is also the chief of the police, can detect the rebellious citizens.]]

* Frolo in TheHunchbackOfNotreDame is some sort of important guy, but it's not really clear what his main job in the community is. He's referred to as a count, a judge, and a minister (religious? political?) at various times by different characters, but he's never shown doing anything related to any of these professions.

* On ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'', Ren would occasionally be shown going to work wearing a hat and tie and carrying a briefcase, but what job he had was never specified. Of course, since there is no continuity between any of the shorts, he could very well be in a different job in every one of those episodes. If Ren doing a job is plot-relevant, it will be shown. Otherwise, it's just an excuse for him to leave the house so something can happen there while he's out.

* While most of the characters in MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic have reasonably defined ways of supporting themselves, after five seasons Fluttershy's job still remains extremely vague. Is she a vet? Is she a ecologist? An animal trainer? A farmer maybe? She's been seen doing a bit of all of them, but what she actually gets paid for is anyone's guess.

A classic sitcom trope where a character (or an entire company, in some examples) has an occupation but no details are ever revealed to the audience, or occasionally to any other characters. Usually played for laughs as their job can contain as many NoodleIncident events as possible, or the character will expect all others to know what he does and be disappointed when nobody can name it. For the character example, this trope is not to be confused with PointyHairedBoss; this character is generally competent, just nobody knows what their position is.

[[folder:Film]]

* A running joke on ''Series/{{Martin}}'' with Tommy. To the extent that multiple episodes were dedicated to trying to find out what his job was.

* In the ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes Tenth Anniversary Book'', cartoonist Bill Watterson says he wanted to avoid readers asking "What is Dad's job?", so he made Calvin's father a patent attorney, [[WriteWhatYouKnow like his own father]]. However, it only comes up in three strips: [[http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1988/12/03 The one where Calvin calls him at work demanding a story]], [[http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1989/09/01 the one where Calvin tries to patent his robot]], and [[http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1995/01/23 the one where Calvin invents a personal tailhook]].

** Creed from 'asks this of himself during an audit. It was established early on that his job was in Quality Assurance, but he had apparently forgotten due to how rarely his job is focused on.

* For the majority of ''MoralOrel'', Orel's dad Clay Puppington complains about his "lousy dead-end job". It isn't until the second to last episode that we find out [[spoiler: he's the Mayor]]. Even his son is surprised.