History Main / ObliquelyObfuscatedOccupation

* Charlie [=MacKenzie=] of ''Film/SoIMarriedAnAxeMurderer'' can somehow afford a very nice San Francisco apartment and a snazzy sports coupe, despite only ever being shown occasionally performing beat poetry at a particular coffeehouse, which is something you'd have a hard time getting paid for ''at all''. Some dialogue early in the movie implies he may own the coffeehouse, but it's never explicitly stated (and if he does, then he's not exactly a hands-on owner).

* The title character of the Creator/RobertAHeinlein novella "The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag" hires a private detective, because he has no idea what he does for a living. [[spoiler: It turns out that our entire Universe is the creation of SufficientlyAdvancedAliens who create realities as an art form. Hoag was basically an art critic who was studying this work, and had his memories wiped to experience it more fully.]]

* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' has Barney, who answers every question about his job with a dismissive laugh and a "please." It is stated, however, that the company destroys the environment, engages in a great deal of illegal activity, and does extensive business with North Korea. In later seasons, the company has a merger with Goliath National Bank, completely changing his company... while still keeping Barney's position equally vague. The final season reveals that his job title is actually [[spoiler:P.L.E.A.S.E. - "[[FunWithAcronyms Provide Legal Exculpation And Sign Everything]]". He's the designated legal fall guy for his company's various criminal activities but, being Barney, he's actually two steps ahead of them, and has already made a whistle-blower deal with the federal government that gets him off the hook while getting his personal revenge on the guy who stole his FirstLove from him]].

[[folder:Film — Animated]]

[[folder:Film — Live-Action]]

* In the ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKid'' series, it's never made quite clear just what Mr. Heffley does for a living; it seems to be some sort of office job and it involves international clients, but we never get more info than that.

-->-- '''WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic''' on ''Film/TheRoom''

* Johnny of ''Film/TheRoom'' is vaguely defined as working in a bank, and he apparently makes mad amounts of money from it, despite only being shown going to work once. Lisa is in "the computer business", whatever that means, and is never shown working. There is a single line of dialogue where she says she's expecting a client, but it's possible she just said that to get rid of her mother.

* ''Series/WandaVision'': As part of living in a pseudo-50s /60s sitcom, Vision has a job at Computational Services, Inc., doing... something. In fact, in his first scene at work, Vision stops to ask a colleague what exactly they do, and his co-worker can't properly answer. But whatever they do, they sure do a lot of it! [[spoiler:It's justified by the fact that the Hex is one giant false sitcom reality created by Wanda. She has no idea what people do at an American company beyond what sitcoms have told her.]]
-->'''Vision:''' Would you be so good as to tell me what it is we ''do'' here, exactly? Do we make something?\\

* Early in ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce'', Carl states that he "works out of the home." What he actually does is unclear, but he seems to live relatively comfortably. It helps that aside from his car and a couple other luxury items, he seems to prefer to live modestly. Another episode has Carl state that he's an elevator repairman.

* For the first two-and-a-quarter seasons of ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'', we're given absolutely no hint as to what the [[TitleCharacter titular character's]] dad, Hugh, does for a living. Even when it finally becomes a plot point (Season 3, Episode 5, "Fundemonium"), we never find out just ''what'' he does--the only thing we know is that Mr. Neutron works at a company (apparently some kind of car dealership) called "Mallard Motors. And they lampshade it:
--> '''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?!''

* 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. ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'' actually portrayed him as a sailor in the US Navy, explaining his absence and why his nephews are living with Uncle Scrooge. Conversely, Donald in ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'' is specifically unemployed and looking for work (having gotten a degree in accounting during his time in the Navy).

** Though in the live-action movies, Barney is Fred's co-worker.

* ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'': Downplayed. In the ''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]]. Justified, because Calvin knows exactly as much about his father's occupation as a small child could reasonably be expected to know, and as he's the viewpoint character and because it's very seldom important to the story, that's all the audience knows either.

* The members of the Microdata Refinement department in ''Series/Severance2022'' perform a job where they sort numerical data into five distinct groups. While this much is shown, it's never explained what the data is for or what the numbers represent, leaving the viewer with no idea as to what they're actually doing for their company.

* PlayedForDrama in ''Literature/TheBoyInTheStripedPajamas'', where Bruno's father hides his occupation from his son, since he take orders directly from "[[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler The Fury]]." [[DramaticIrony It's pretty obvious to the audience what Dad does, though.]]

* ''Film/GlassOnion'': It's never clarified what the tech company Alpha does. The napkin the initial idea was written on mentions "crypto scalability", one of Miles' ideas involved NFTs, and it has a news network, delivery service, and planes and space rockets, but that's all we get. All in all, it comes off like a parody of Amazon, Apple, and Tesla all squashed together.

* ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes''
** In the ''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]].
** In another comic Calvin is seeing a pediatrician for a check-up and accuses him of being a quack, he remarks that his dad is a lawyer and threatens to sue him for malpractice. It's unclear whether or not he was just lying to scare the doctor or he assumes that [[NotThatKindOfDoctor all attorneys are the ones that go to court.]]

* Ash's goal of becoming a "Pokémon Master" is this in ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}''. It's never specified what this entails and almost no one besides being Ash mentions it as a goal. He never seems too concerned about winning the League and no Champion is described as a Pokémon Master, so it's unlikely to be related to the Pokémon League. It doesn't seem to involve catching a lot of Pokémon either. Ash is asked what being a Pokémon Master means in the ''I Choose You'' manga adaptation, but all he says it that it's "way above" being the best trainer in the world. This vaguely defined goal allows Ash to keep traveling around without ever achieving his goal.
* ''Franchise/DragonBall'': Gohan is stated to be a "scholar" after the Buu Saga, and that this is considered very prestigious, but what exactly this constitutes and what he's getting paid for is never really elaborated on. What field he studies, what he studies for, and how he applies his knowledge mostly happens offscreen, since he's never seen doing the usual things you'd expect a "scholar" to make money off of, like teaching, writing articles, doing studies or peer-review, or anything along those lines. As far as the audience can tell, his job seems to consist of reading a lot of books. Some AllThereInTheManual material claims he would eventually write a book, but we never see him doing so. ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' [[DownplayedTrope downplays]] this as he is seen going for business lunches, is heard attending important conferences and at one point is seen leaving what looks like a university, meaning he could be a university professor at that point of time.

* Played with in ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'', where we know how the Wilder, Minoru, and Yorkes families ''actually'' became wealthy - a combination of crime, time-travelling for fun and profit, and dark magic - but it's never said what their cover jobs are.

* [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in ''ComicStrip/MyCage'', where Norm does some kind of work for a company called MacGuffin Inc, whose purpose is unknown.
* ''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 generally falls under NegativeContinuity, and the company does whatever is required to make the current joke work.

* The HELP in Samuel Shem's medical novel ''The House of God'' are this. The interns are unsure whether the HELP are glorified porters, social workers, janitors or something else altogether. Even the HELP themselves are unsure, and nobody even knows what the acronym stands for.
* PlayedForDrama in ''Literature/TheBoyInTheStripedPajamas'', where Bruno's father hides his occupation from his son, since he take orders directly from "[[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler The Fury]]". [[DramaticIrony It's pretty obvious to the audience what Dad does, though]].

* In ''Literature/AChristmasCarol'', Creator/CharlesDickens never specifies exactly what Scrooge's business is. He's referred to as being hard on his debtors, so many adaptations make him [[LoanShark some sort of moneylender]]. On the other hand, it's mentioned that he's well known on "'Change," that is, the merchandise/stock exchange in London. And he did his apprenticeship with Fezziwig, who was apparently a wholesaler of unspecified goods.
* Uncle Parker in Helen Cresswell's ''Literature/TheBagthorpeSaga'' has an unspecified job which somehow involves doing the ''London Times'' crossword every afternoon.

* In the ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKid'' series, it's never made quite clear just what Mr. Heffley does for a living; it seems to be some sort of office job and it involves international clients, but we never get more info than that.

* 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. One early episode referred to him as a processing supervisor, though it was never specified what type of processing he was supervising. Then, in Season 9, Monica points out what his job is - ''after'' he has resigned, which he, of course, [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]][[note]]it's "statistical analysis and data reconfiguration"[[/note]].

* ''Series/TheITCrowd'' is, as the title suggests, fairly clear about what their lead characters do for a living--they run tech support for Reynholm Industries. What it is ''Reynholm Industries'' does is another matter entirely, and has never been elaborated on.
-->'''Jen:''' BHDR Industries, they're the top makers of that product that has something to do with our company!

* Kramer on ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' appears by all accounts to be unemployed, but is never hurting for money. When Jerry asks him what it is he actually does, he simply answers "Oh, I get by." In the [[YouMeanXmas Festivus episode]], Kramer reveals that [[spoiler:he used to work at a bagel shop before the employees went on strike demanding higher pay. When the strike is called off (because the minimum wage has now risen high enough that it meets their original demands), he goes back to work... [[StatusQuoIsGod until he's fired at the end of the episode.]]]]

* "Robert Roode Inc.", the company Wrestling/BobbyRoode supposedly inherited from his late grandfather, has allowed him to employ buxom assistants and custom security teams as well as bully around [[ThisLoserIsYou Eric Young]]. Despite this, it was never exactly made clear what this company does before he struck a bond with Wrestling/JamesStorm and eventually formed a tag team. Despite being a partial inspiration for the Beer Money, Inc. name, the company was predictably largely phased out of his character after that.
* While she dressed like a (sexy) businesswoman, [[Wrestling/StacyKeibler Ms. Hancock's]] exact job description was never explained. This is due to the weird transitional period that was early 2000 Wrestling/{{WCW}}, with Wrestling/KevinSullivan having been brought back to sort out Wrestling/VinceRusso's mess.

* A particularly extreme example in ''Videogame/UltimaUnderworld II''. The Eloemosynator in Talorus, an alternate dimension, has a function so glorious and complex that we're not expected to understand it.
* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'', despite being stated as the largest and most powerful guild in the union, it's not clear exactly what Altosk's purpose as a guild is. The other four Master Guilds all have clearly defined jobs -Fortune's Market are merchants, Ruins' Gate are archeologists, the Soul Smiths are blacksmiths, and the Blood Alliance are mercenaries- but Altosk doesn't seem to have any particular focus other than being in charge of stuff.

* PlayedForDrama in [[Creator/BrianDavidGilbert Brian David Gilbert's]] horror short [[https://youtu.be/wbfu39l0kxg "Earn $20K EVERY MONTH by being your own boss"]]. The main character's entire job consists of moving strange symbols from one spreadsheet to another for the mysterious Dorian Smiles, for which he receives a ridiculously huge amount of money...from a bank account with ''his own name'' on it. He can't explain what it's for or even who Dorian Smiles really is; he simply repeats how he's making $20K every month by being his own boss and how great it is. [[spoiler: He gets tired of not knowing and attempts to find out. This goes poorly for him.]]
* A RunningGag in ''WebVideo/JakeAndAmir'' is that Amir's precise job at [=CollegeHumor=] is unclear to everyone, including him. [[ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything He rarely if ever does any actual work]], and it's [[RuleOfFunny variously implied]] that he never moved up from intern-level tasks and that he fills a hard-to-replace role and makes more money than Jake. On the other hand, he's occasionally said to be a writer for the site [[TheDanza as his real-life counterpart was at the time]].
* ''WebVideo/CriticalRole: Wildemount:'' Essek Thelyss works directly with the Empress of the Kryn Dynasty in court, has free access to high-security prisoners, and is a magical prodigy, but his official title of Shadowhand is never explained in-game. WordOfGod [[https://twitter.com/matthewmercer/status/1448033967441993728 is that]] it's awarded to a distinguished "specialist in the dangerous unknown".

* [[TheMunchkin Pete]] in ''Webcomic/DarthsAndDroids'' has a job that, apparently, [[http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0848.html is white collar]]. It's complicated by a lot of the clues being seemingly contradictory; for instance, he casually writes new phone apps on the spot and doesn't understand why people think it's hard but also complains that he's stuck in meetings with silver-tongued backstabbers all day. It's eventually revealed that [[spoiler:he ''used'' to work in IT and most of the other players assumed that's what he did, but he is now a trial lawyer.]]

* Webcomic/ElGoonishShive : Ellen has [[https://www.egscomics.com/comic/sister3-303 no clue]] what her dad's job is.
* ''Webcomic/BasicInstructions'': Everything related to Scott's job is incredibly vague, starting with what the company actually does. Because the office is staffed by shiftless malcontents sent there as a form of PunishmentDetail, nobody actually cares much about their jobs, so most work-related discussion is centered around day-to-day tasks like filling in the RJ-17 form or filing paperwork without much attention to the end goal, nor does anyone really have a job title or assigned role. An angry client comes in regularly to complain that they haven't completed some work he paid them to do, never specifying what. [[PointyHairedBoss Nor is the boss much use when it comes to setting a direction]] beyond making other people file his paperwork for him (for bonus vagueness he's [[NoNameGiven never been named beyond "Mullet Boss"]]). On the bright side, everyone having ill-defined jobs they don't care about doing [[SeinfeldianConversation opens up plenty of time for long, wisecrack-laden conversations about sci-fi movies]].

* Early in ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce'' Carl states that he "works out of the home." What he actually does is unclear, but he seems to live relatively comfortably. It helps that aside from his car and a couple other luxury items, he seems to prefer to live modestly.
** He states in another episode he's apparently an elevator repairman.

* On ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'', Barney's occupation - aside from occasional [[NewJobEpisode single episode jobs]] he and Fred get together - is never clarified. It became a running joke, such that in one episode, when Wilma and Betty are trying to impress someone by lying about how prosperous their families are, Wilma claims Fred is "[[ExactWords in the construction business]]" while Betty claims Barney is in "top secret work."

* ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'': Boomhauer's job/source of income on the show was given multiple explanations: one was that he was a former electric lineman on worker's comp, another was that he doesn't work because he lives off the money he won in a lottery, and a third explanation was that Boomhauer came from a moderately wealthy family and lived off a trust fund set up for him. The last episode "To Sirloin With Love" reveals that Boomhauer actually ''does'' have a job: [[spoiler:he's a member of the Texas Rangers.]]
* For the majority of ''WesternAnimation/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.
* 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. Sometimes Stimpy is shown doing this too, in one episode he appears to be a pilot or a mailman judging by his uniform.
* On ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'', it's never said what Charlene Doofenshmirtz's job is. Whatever it is, it apparently pays very well, as a lot of Dr. D's schemes are funded by her huge alimony checks.

* For the first two-and-a-quarter seasons of ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'', we're given absolutely no hint as to what the [[TitleCharacter titular character's]] dad, Hugh, does for a living. Even when it finally becomes a plot point (season 3, episode 5, "Fundemonium"), we never find out just ''what'' he does--the only thing we know is that Mr. Neutron works at a company (apparently some kind of car dealership) called "Mallard Motors. And they lampshade it:
--> '''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?!''

* For the first two-and-a-quarter seasons of ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'', we're given absolutely no hint as to what Jimmy's dad Hugh does for a living. Even when it finally becomes a plot point (season 3, episode 5, "Fundemonium"), we're not told exactly ''what'' he does, just that he works at a car company called Mallard Motors. And they lampshade it:

* In the ''VideoGame/DetectiveUnited'' series, we know that Agent Dorian Brown is a member of the Mystery Trackers, which is an ancient secret cabal dedicated to protecting humanity against the worst supernatural threats. In the first game, he himself explains that he's the head of a very specialized department which handles particularly complex cases. Having been a Mystery Trackers agent for more than twenty years, he is ''very'' good at his job, and he keeps things ''very'' tightly under wraps. And... that's really all we know. "Additional information is classified."

Someone with this kind of occupation may be employed by a BusinessOfGenericImportance. Not to be confused with WhatExactlyIsHisJob, that's about a character with a rotating or undefined role on the cast itself. Contrast ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything, where a character is established to have a specific job, but is never seen doing it.

* ''Film/{{Lifeology}}'': Setgel is a scientist researching...something...and apparently trying to make...something. Other than whatever he's doing involving [[TechnicolorScience a lot of colored liquids]] and being an explosive hazard (he blows up his lab!), no hint is given as to what he actually does. This is lampshaded when he and Chimegtoshio are out on a date. She asks just what he's a scientist of, and he says "What a great question! Let's drink to that!"

* In the ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKid'' series, it's never made quite clear just what Mr. Heffley does for a living; it seems to be some sort of office job and that it involved international clients, but we never get more info than that.

* 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. One early episode referred to him as a processing supervisor, though it was never specified what type of processing he was supervising. Then, on Season 9, Monica points out what's his job - ''after'' he has resigned, which he, of course, [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]][[note]]it's "statistical analysis and data reconfiguration"[[/note]].

* ''Series/WandaVision'': As part of living in a pseudo-50s /60s sitcom, Vision has a job at Computational Services, Inc., doing... something. In fact, in his first scene at work, Vision stops to ask a colleague what exactly they do, and his co-worker can't properly answer. But whatever they do, they sure do a lot of it! [[spoiler:It's justified by the fact that the Hex is one giant false sitcom reality created by Wanda. She has no idea what people do at an American company beyond what sitcoms told her.]]

'''Vision:''' ''[laughs]'' You truly are a pioneer. But the...the larger purpose of the forms is?\\

* One episode of ''Series/TheWonderYears'' revolves around Kevin (also played by Fred Savage) realizing that he doesn't know what his father does for a living. He asks his older brother, who replies with a shrug "He works for Norcom." But when Kevin asks what he actually does, his brother realizes that he doesn't know either. Kevin then asks his mother, who says the same thing. When he asks for specifics, she convinces her husband to take him to work for a day so that he can see exactly what his father does. Kevin (and the audience) do learn what Jack's job entails, but the actual product the company makes remains a mystery.

* ''Webcomic/BasicInstructions'': Everything related to Scott's job is incredibly vague, starting with what the company actually does. Because the office is staffed by shiftless malcontents sent there as a form of PunishmentDetail, nobody actually cares much about their jobs, so most work-related discussion is centered around day-to-day tasks like filling in the RJ-17 form or filing paperwork without much attention to the end goal. An angry client comes in regularly to complain that they haven't completed some work he paid them to do, never specifying what. [[PointyHairedBoss Nor is the boss much use when it comes to setting a direction]] beyond making other people file his paperwork for him (for bonus vagueness he's [[NoNameGiven never been named beyond "Mullet Boss"]]). On the bright side, everyone having ill-defined jobs they don't care about doing [[SeinfeldianConversation opens up plenty of time for long, wisecrack-laden conversations about sci-fi movies]].

-->'''Ridcully''': Interesting idea, though. What do you do, Senior Wrangler?
-->'''Senior Wrangler''': Well, er. The post of Senior Wrangler at Unseen University is, most unusually...
-->'''Ridcully''': Yes, but what do you ''do''? And have you been doing more of it in the past six months than in the previous six?
-->'''Dean''': Well, if we're asking ''that'' kind of question, Archchancellor, what do ''you'' do?
-->'''Ridcully''': I administer, Dean.
-->'''Dean''': Then we must be doing ''something'', otherwise you'd have nothing to administrate.
-->'''Ridcully''': That comment strikes at the heart of the bureaucratic principle, Dean, and I shall ignore it.

-->'''Vision:''' Would you be so good as to tell me what it is we ''do'' here, exactly? Do we make something?
-->'''Norm:''' No.
-->'''Vision:''' Right. Do we buy or sell something?
-->'''Norm:''' No and no.
-->'''Vision:''' Then what is the purpose of this company?
-->'''Norm:''' All I know is, since you've gotten here, productivity has gone up 300%.
-->'''Vision:''' Yes, but what is it we're producing?
-->'''Norm:''' Computational forms. And no one can process the data quite like you do, pal. You're like a walking computer!
-->'''Vision:''' What? [[HughMann I most certainly am not!]] [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial I'm a regular carbon-based employee made entirely of organic matter, much like yourself, Norm.]]

-->'''Mr. Hart:''' ...So I say if we orient the forms horizontally, rather than vertically, we can use twice the paper. We can bill twice the cost.
-->'''Vision:''' ''[laughs]'' You truly are a pioneer. But the...the larger purpose of the forms is?
-->'''Mr. Hart:''' Well it's to analyze our input and our output.
-->'''Vision:''' Huh.
-->'''Mr. Hart:''' You're awfully dense, aren't you, Vision?[[labelnote:*]][[WebVideo/CinemaWins "My wife once made me so dense]] [[Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar I fell through the floor!"]][[/labelnote]]

* Gohan in ''Franchise/DragonBall'' is stated to be a "scholar" after the Buu Saga, and that this is considered very prestigious, but what exactly this constitutes and what he's getting paid for is never really elaborated on. What field he studies, what he studies for, and how he applies his knowledge mostly happens offscreen, since he's never seen doing the usual things you'd expect a "scholar" to make money off of, like teaching, writing articles, doing studies or peer-review, or anything along those lines. As far as the audience can tell, his job seems to consist of reading a lot of books. Some AllThereInTheManual material claims he would eventually write a book, but we never see him doing so.
** ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' [[DownplayedTrope downplays]] this as he is seen going for business lunches, is heard attending important conferences and at one point is seen leaving what looks like a university, meaning he could be a university professor at that point of time (the Future Trunks arc).

* A sketch in ''[[Series/IThinkYouShouldLeaveWithTimRobinson I Think You Should Leave]]'' has a driver's ed teacher showing his students a corny educational video about safe driving, but the students are immediately distracted by the woman in the video, who has a job which apparently includes folding tables and horror icons like Herman Munster. The teacher angrily insists that her job is "tables" and refuses to elaborate.