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* In ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'', Marshall is forced to fire an incompetent employee named Randy but later feels guilty about it and convinces his boss to let him rehire the guy. However, it turns out Randy ''wanted'' to get fired because the severance package would give him the financial security he needed to follow his dream of opening a craft beer brewery. After failing to get Marshall to re-fire him by trashing his office, Randy apologizes for his behavior and offers Marshall one of his homemade beers as a peace offering. When Marshall tastes it, he loves it and realizes Randy is a genuinely talented beer maker. He fires him again and Future Ted reveals that Randy's brewery became a roaring success.
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* ''Anime/WelcomeToTheNHK'': Kaoru was born and raised at a dairy farm and didn't like that his family decided his future for him down to how he would work and who he will marry. As an act of rebellion, he moved to Tokyo to become a game designer. He learned the hard way that he has no talent after having a dismally low sale at his one and only convention as a vendor. The final nail to his dream was when his father was too sick to work and had to go back to Hokkaido. In the epilogue, he finally accepts the role of a dairy farmer and appears to have a stable life showing that it was what he was good at, which makes sense because he lived there.
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** Kevin is a poor fit as an accountant, especially since outside of [[GeniusDitz special circumstances]] he's practically innumerate. In the SeriesFinale he finds fulfillment as a bar owner after Dwight fires him.
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** Kevin has a lot of talents like cooking, drumming, and playing poker. However, he is a poor fit as an accountant, especially since outside of [[GeniusDitz special circumstances]] he's practically innumerate.innumerate. He didn't even apply for the job in the first place, only getting it because Michael felt he could do better than being a grunt in the warehouse. In the SeriesFinale he finds fulfillment as a bar owner after Dwight fires him.
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* ''Series/ParksAndRecreation'': As a [[StrawCharacter straw libertarian]], Ron does not like his job because he has a disdain for the government and does his best to be as inefficient as possible. In the series finale, he switched to being a national park ranger which, despite being a government position, he really enjoys because it lets him enjoy the outdoors begrudgingly admitting this is the one thing the government got right.
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* ''Webcomic/StandStillStaySilent'': This is a dodged bullet for Emil. In his youth, he was studying to be an academic with private tutors. When his wealthy family lost its money, he switched to public school and implicitly did poorly because the private tutors had failed to teach him properly. After that, he decided to enlist into the DemolitionsExpert branch of the army, mostly because it suited his MadBomber and {{Pyromaniac}} tendencies well. In the first arc of the story proper, he joins an expedition that is officially doing research, but actually scavengig for books from TheBeforetimes in UrbanRuins. Emil doesn't show any interest in the research material nor the books themselves and has poor book-selecting skills, while being a KnowNothingKnowItAll about TheBeforetimes on a good day. All this indicates that he would have made a poor academic even if hadn't dropped out of the career path.
to:
* ''Webcomic/StandStillStaySilent'': This is a dodged bullet for Emil. In his youth, he was studying to be an academic with private tutors. When his wealthy family lost its money, he switched to public school and implicitly did poorly because the private tutors had failed to teach him properly. After that, he decided to enlist into the DemolitionsExpert branch of the army, mostly because it suited his MadBomber and {{Pyromaniac}} tendencies well. In the first arc of the story proper, he joins an expedition that is officially doing research, but actually scavengig for books from TheBeforetimes in UrbanRuins. Emil doesn't show any interest in the research material nor the books themselves and has poor book-selecting skills, while being a KnowNothingKnowItAll about TheBeforetimes on a good day. All this indicates that he would have made a poor academic even if he hadn't dropped out of the career path.
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* ''WesternAnimation/InvisibleNetworkOfKids'': Ms. Macbeth is grossly incompetent at teaching, often feeding her students misinformation on subjects while assigning them copious amounts of impossibly hard work to do in a short timespan. She is however, much more proficient and knowledgeable at the jobs and methods she uses when doing any kind of EvilPlan to take over the school.
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* ''WesternAnimation/InvisibleNetworkOfKids'': Ms. Macbeth is grossly incompetent at teaching, often feeding her students misinformation on subjects while assigning them copious amounts of impossibly hard work to do in a short timespan. She is however, much more proficient and knowledgeable at the jobs and methods she uses when doing any kind of EvilPlan to take over the school.
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* ''WesternAnimation/TheHairBearBunch'': The movie director in "(Whatever Happend To) Goldilocks and the Three Bears" has to deal with quitting actors and a tempermental star who tells him to find three new actors as the bears or he's fired.
-->'''Director:''' I should've been a plumber like my mother wanted.
-->'''Director:''' I should've been a plumber like my mother wanted.
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* ''WesternAnimation/DastardlyAndMuttleyInTheirFlyingMachines'': In "Sky-Hi I.Q.," the Vulture Squadron is taking aptitude tests, and afterwards, I.B. Smartley (the efficiency expert assigned to assess the Squadron) makes his judgment:
-->'''Smartley:''' Mr. Dastardly, Mr. Klunk and Mr. Zilly, you are definitely in the wrong business. Have you ever thought of taking up plumbing?
-->'''Smartley:''' Mr. Dastardly, Mr. Klunk and Mr. Zilly, you are definitely in the wrong business. Have you ever thought of taking up plumbing?
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* ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'': The Barber from the "Lumberjack" sketch suffers from a chronic fear of seeing hair being cut, and the only reason he ended up being a barber was because of his mother, who sent him to a hairdressing school in a failed attempt to get him to conquer his phobia.
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* ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets'': Gilderoy Lockhart accepts the job of [[WizardingSchool Hogwart's]] Teacher of Defence Against the Dark Arts (a post which no-one else wants since they position is rumored to be cursed), despite lacking the magical skill to subdue a swarm of pixies. The end of the book reveals that he's a FakeUltimateHero who's career was built on taking credit for the deeds of others, and that the only magic he's ever had a talent for is memory charms.
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* ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets'': Gilderoy Lockhart accepts the job of [[WizardingSchool Hogwart's]] Teacher of Defence Against the Dark Arts (a post which no-one else wants since they the position is rumored to be cursed), despite lacking the magical skill to subdue a swarm of pixies. The end of the book reveals that he's a FakeUltimateHero who's career was built on taking credit for the deeds of others, and that the only magic he's ever had a talent for is memory charms.
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* ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets'': Gilderoy Lockhart accepts the job of [[WizardingSchool Hogwart's]] Teacher of Defence Against the Dark Arts (a post which no-one else wants since they position is rumored to be cursed), despite lacking the magical skill to subdue a swarm of pixies. The end of the book reveals that he's a FakeUltimateHero who's career was built on taking credit for the deeds of others, and that the only magic he's ever had a talent for is memory charms.
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* they have no other work options.
* other people, such as supervisors, expect them to remain in the job.
* they enjoy their work, the workplace, or their colleagues.
* other people, such as supervisors, expect them to remain in the job.
* they enjoy their work, the workplace, or their colleagues.
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* they They have no other work options.
*other Other people, such as supervisors, expect them to remain in the job.
*they They enjoy their work, the workplace, or their colleagues.
*
*
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* ''Series/RedDwarf'': In "Timewave", the SS Enconium, a 24th Century ship, is shifted into the Dwarfers' time. In the time they came from, [[LoonyLaws criticism has been outlawed]], with anyone who breaks the law being arrested. This has given the crew free reign to take on whatever jobs they want, regardless of ability, with hairdressers becoming navigators, and doctors being lift technicians. As a result, the ship is a total mess, not to mention on the verge of crashing into a moon.
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* ''Series/RedDwarf'': ''Series/RedDwarf'':
** Rimmer dreams of becoming an officer, a dream which is undermined by the fact that he lacks any of the skills required for such a position, and barely has the skills necessary for his current position of "Second Technician". One chapter of ''[[Literature/RedDwarf Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers]]'' delves deeper into this, pointing out that Rimmer simply isn't cut out for a career in the Space Corps. The same chapter also reveals that he has a talent for artistry (creating revision timetables that could be considered minor works of art), implying that his true calling could have been found in a position like graphics design, or cartography.
** In "Timewave", the SS Enconium, a 24th Century ship, is shifted into the Dwarfers' time. In the time they came from, [[LoonyLaws criticism has been outlawed]], with anyone who breaks the law being arrested. This has given the crew free reign to take on whatever jobs they want, regardless of ability, with hairdressers becoming navigators, and doctors being lift technicians. As a result, the ship is a total mess, not to mention on the verge of crashing into a moon.
** Rimmer dreams of becoming an officer, a dream which is undermined by the fact that he lacks any of the skills required for such a position, and barely has the skills necessary for his current position of "Second Technician". One chapter of ''[[Literature/RedDwarf Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers]]'' delves deeper into this, pointing out that Rimmer simply isn't cut out for a career in the Space Corps. The same chapter also reveals that he has a talent for artistry (creating revision timetables that could be considered minor works of art), implying that his true calling could have been found in a position like graphics design, or cartography.
** In "Timewave", the SS Enconium, a 24th Century ship, is shifted into the Dwarfers' time. In the time they came from, [[LoonyLaws criticism has been outlawed]], with anyone who breaks the law being arrested. This has given the crew free reign to take on whatever jobs they want, regardless of ability, with hairdressers becoming navigators, and doctors being lift technicians. As a result, the ship is a total mess, not to mention on the verge of crashing into a moon.
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* ''Webcomic/{{Zoophobia}}'': Cameron, a [[NervousWreck neurotic]] young woman with an [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes immense fear of animals]], is hired as a guidance counselor at the Zoo-Phoenix Academy, which happens to be both staffed and attended by multiple humanoid animals (or {{Shapeshifter}}s who take on animal-like forms). While she has a genuine desire to help others, living her [[YourWorstNightmare worst nightmare]] every day often leaves her too terrified to actually help any students seeking guidance.
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* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': The [[ConArtist Flim-Flam Brothers]] are business-savvy, charismatic, and really know how to play to a crowd. If they just stuck to legitimate business ventures, they would easily be comfortably well-off for the rest of their lives. Instead, they use their talents for scams and con jobs, due to wanting to make as much as possible right away. These cons are often exposed and dismantled, leaving them with next to nothing to show for their efforts.
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-they have no other work options.
-other people, such as supervisors, expect them to remain in the job.
-they enjoy their work, the workplace, or their colleagues.
-other people, such as supervisors, expect them to remain in the job.
-they enjoy their work, the workplace, or their colleagues.
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-other
* other people, such as supervisors, expect them to remain in the
-they
* they enjoy their work, the workplace, or their colleagues.
----
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[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
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[[folder:Anime and & Manga]]
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[[folder:Films - Animated]]
* ''WesternAnimation/AnimalCrackers2017'': When Brock, Owen's coworker at the dog biscuit factory, is given the authority to do so, Brock assigns Owen to do accounting work. Owen makes it clear that he's not qualified to do this, as his only background is from a circus and his current job is a taste tester. Brock still forces Owen to do this menial work to bully him.
* ''WesternAnimation/AnimalCrackers2017'': When Brock, Owen's coworker at the dog biscuit factory, is given the authority to do so, Brock assigns Owen to do accounting work. Owen makes it clear that he's not qualified to do this, as his only background is from a circus and his current job is a taste tester. Brock still forces Owen to do this menial work to bully him.
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[[folder:Films - Animated]]
-- Animation]]
*''WesternAnimation/AnimalCrackers2017'': ''WesternAnimation/{{Animal Crackers|2017}}'': When Brock, Owen's coworker at the dog biscuit factory, is given the authority to do so, Brock assigns Owen to do accounting work. Owen makes it clear that he's not qualified to do this, as his only background is from a circus and his current job is a taste tester. Brock still forces Owen to do this menial work to bully him.
*
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* ''Franchise/MonstersInc'': In the prequel, ''WesternAnimation/MonstersUniversity'', Mike Wazowski wanted to be the world's best scarer, but despite his encyclopedic knowledge of scare tactics, he had to face the AwfulTruth that he's not frightening enough to be a scarer, and gives up on his dream career. In [[WesternAnimation/MonstersInc the first movie]], it's Mike's knowledge that allows Sully to become the best scarer at Monsters Incorporated while working as his scare assistant, though after discovering that [[spoiler: children's laughter is several times more powerful than scream]] Mike finds his true calling [[spoiler: making children laugh as a comedian]].
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* ''Franchise/MonstersInc'': ''Franchise/MonstersInc'':
** In the prequel, ''WesternAnimation/MonstersUniversity'', Mike Wazowskiwanted wants to be the world's best scarer, but despite his encyclopedic knowledge of scare tactics, he had has to face the AwfulTruth that he's not frightening enough to be a scarer, and gives up on his dream career. In [[WesternAnimation/MonstersInc the first movie]], it's Mike's knowledge that allows Sully to become the best scarer at Monsters Incorporated while working as his scare assistant, though after discovering that [[spoiler: children's [[spoiler:children's laughter is several times more powerful than scream]] Mike finds his true calling [[spoiler: making [[spoiler:making children laugh as a comedian]].
** In the prequel, ''WesternAnimation/MonstersUniversity'', Mike Wazowski
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[[folder:Films - Live Action]]
* ''Film/TheBigLebowski'': the eponymous Jeffrey Lebowski has an office wall full of civic awards and honors... Which is all a smokescreen, as it's revealed he's terrible at running a business. [[spoiler:Turns out he's ''much'' better at transferring company money to his own pocket via shady means]].
* ''Film/TheBigLebowski'': the eponymous Jeffrey Lebowski has an office wall full of civic awards and honors... Which is all a smokescreen, as it's revealed he's terrible at running a business. [[spoiler:Turns out he's ''much'' better at transferring company money to his own pocket via shady means]].
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[[folder:Films - Live Action]]
-- Live-Action]]
* ''Film/TheBigLebowski'':the The eponymous Jeffrey Lebowski has an office wall full of civic awards and honors... Which is all a smokescreen, as it's revealed he's terrible at running a business. [[spoiler:Turns out he's ''much'' better at transferring company money to his own pocket via shady means]].
* ''Film/TheBigLebowski'':
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[[folder:Webcomics]]
* ''Webcomic/StandStillStaySilent'': This is a dodged bullet for Emil. In his youth, he was studying to be an academic with private tutors. When his wealthy family lost its money, he switched to public school and implicitly did poorly because the private tutors had failed to teach him properly. After that, he decided to enlist into the DemolitionsExpert branch of the army, mostly because it suited his MadBomber and {{Pyromaniac}} tendencies well. In the first arc of the story proper, he joins an expedition that is officially doing research, but actually scavengig for books from TheBeforetimes in UrbanRuins. Emil doesn't show any interest in the research material nor the books themselves and has poor book-selecting skills, while being a KnowNothingKnowItAll about TheBeforetimes on a good day. All this indicates that he would have made a poor academic even if hadn't dropped out of the career path.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Web Video]]
* ''Webcomic/StandStillStaySilent'': This is a dodged bullet for Emil. In his youth, he was studying to be an academic with private tutors. When his wealthy family lost its money, he switched to public school and implicitly did poorly because the private tutors had failed to teach him properly. After that, he decided to enlist into the DemolitionsExpert branch of the army, mostly because it suited his MadBomber and {{Pyromaniac}} tendencies well. In the first arc of the story proper, he joins an expedition that is officially doing research, but actually scavengig for books from TheBeforetimes in UrbanRuins. Emil doesn't show any interest in the research material nor the books themselves and has poor book-selecting skills, while being a KnowNothingKnowItAll about TheBeforetimes on a good day. All this indicates that he would have made a poor academic even if hadn't dropped out of the career path.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Web Video]]
to:
* ''Webcomic/StandStillStaySilent'': This is a dodged bullet for Emil. In his youth, he was studying to be an academic with private tutors. When his wealthy family lost its money, he switched to public school and implicitly did poorly because the private tutors had failed to teach him properly. After that, he decided to enlist into the DemolitionsExpert branch of the army, mostly because it suited his MadBomber and {{Pyromaniac}} tendencies well. In the first arc of the story proper, he joins an expedition that is officially doing research, but actually scavengig for books from TheBeforetimes in UrbanRuins. Emil doesn't show any interest in the research material nor the books themselves and has poor book-selecting skills, while being a KnowNothingKnowItAll about TheBeforetimes on a good day. All this indicates that he would have made a poor academic even if hadn't dropped out of the career path.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Web Comics]]
* ''Webcomic/StandStillStaySilent'': This is a dodged bullet for Emil. In his youth, he was studying to be an academic with private tutors. When his wealthy family lost its money, he switched to public school and implicitly did poorly because the private tutors had failed to teach him properly. After that, he decided to enlist into the DemolitionsExpert branch of the army, mostly because it suited his MadBomber and {{Pyromaniac}} tendencies well. In the first arc of the story proper, he joins an expedition that is officially doing research, but actually scavengig for books from TheBeforetimes in UrbanRuins. Emil doesn't show any interest in the research material nor the books themselves and has poor book-selecting skills, while being a KnowNothingKnowItAll about TheBeforetimes on a good day. All this indicates that he would have made a poor academic even if hadn't dropped out of the career path.
[[/folder]]
* ''Webcomic/StandStillStaySilent'': This is a dodged bullet for Emil. In his youth, he was studying to be an academic with private tutors. When his wealthy family lost its money, he switched to public school and implicitly did poorly because the private tutors had failed to teach him properly. After that, he decided to enlist into the DemolitionsExpert branch of the army, mostly because it suited his MadBomber and {{Pyromaniac}} tendencies well. In the first arc of the story proper, he joins an expedition that is officially doing research, but actually scavengig for books from TheBeforetimes in UrbanRuins. Emil doesn't show any interest in the research material nor the books themselves and has poor book-selecting skills, while being a KnowNothingKnowItAll about TheBeforetimes on a good day. All this indicates that he would have made a poor academic even if hadn't dropped out of the career path.
[[/folder]]
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----
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* ''Webcomic/StandStillStaySilent'': This is a dodged bullet for Emil. In his youth, he was studying to be an academic with private tutors. When his wealthy family lost its money, he switched to public school and implicitly did poorly because the private tutors had failed to teach him properly. After that, he decided to enlist into the DemolitionsExpert branch of the army, mostly because it suited his MadBomber and {{Pyromaniac}} tendencies well. In the first arc of the story proper, he joins an expedition that is officially doing reasearch, but actually scavengig for book from TheBeforetimes in UrbanRuins. Emil doesn't show any interest in the reasearch material nor the books themselves and has poor book-selecting skills, while being a KnowNothingKnowItAll about TheBeforetimes on a good day. All this indicates that he would have made a poor academic even if hadn't dropped out of the career path.
to:
* ''Webcomic/StandStillStaySilent'': This is a dodged bullet for Emil. In his youth, he was studying to be an academic with private tutors. When his wealthy family lost its money, he switched to public school and implicitly did poorly because the private tutors had failed to teach him properly. After that, he decided to enlist into the DemolitionsExpert branch of the army, mostly because it suited his MadBomber and {{Pyromaniac}} tendencies well. In the first arc of the story proper, he joins an expedition that is officially doing reasearch, research, but actually scavengig for book books from TheBeforetimes in UrbanRuins. Emil doesn't show any interest in the reasearch research material nor the books themselves and has poor book-selecting skills, while being a KnowNothingKnowItAll about TheBeforetimes on a good day. All this indicates that he would have made a poor academic even if hadn't dropped out of the career path.
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* ''LightNovel/AscendanceOfABookworm'': Damuel is more suited for scholar work than for a knight's work, but his family is quite poor and his older brother a better scholar than him, so he beacame a knight to widen his family's business.
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* ''Webcomic/StandStillStaySilent'': This is a dodged bullet for Emil. In his youth, he was studying to be an academic with private tutors. When his wealthy family lost its money, he switched to public school and implicitly did poorly because the private tutors had failed to teach him properly. After that, he decided to enlist into the DemolitionsExpert branch of the army, mostly because it suited his MadBomber and {{Pyromaniac}} tendencies well. In the first arc of the story proper, he joins an expedition that is officially doing reasearch, but actually scavengig for book from TheBeforetimes in UrbanRuins. Emil doesn't show any interest in the reasearch material nor the books themselves, while being a KnowNothingKnowItAll about TheBeforetimes on a good day. All this indicates that he would have made a poor academic even if hadn't dropped out of the career path.
to:
* ''Webcomic/StandStillStaySilent'': This is a dodged bullet for Emil. In his youth, he was studying to be an academic with private tutors. When his wealthy family lost its money, he switched to public school and implicitly did poorly because the private tutors had failed to teach him properly. After that, he decided to enlist into the DemolitionsExpert branch of the army, mostly because it suited his MadBomber and {{Pyromaniac}} tendencies well. In the first arc of the story proper, he joins an expedition that is officially doing reasearch, but actually scavengig for book from TheBeforetimes in UrbanRuins. Emil doesn't show any interest in the reasearch material nor the books themselves, themselves and has poor book-selecting skills, while being a KnowNothingKnowItAll about TheBeforetimes on a good day. All this indicates that he would have made a poor academic even if hadn't dropped out of the career path.
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[[folder:Webcomics]]
* ''Webcomic/StandStillStaySilent'': This is a dodged bullet for Emil. In his youth, he was studying to be an academic with private tutors. When his wealthy family lost its money, he switched to public school and implicitly did poorly because the private tutors had failed to teach him properly. After that, he decided to enlist into the DemolitionsExpert branch of the army, mostly because it suited his MadBomber and {{Pyromaniac}} tendencies well. In the first arc of the story proper, he joins an expedition that is officially doing reasearch, but actually scavengig for book from TheBeforetimes in UrbanRuins. Emil doesn't show any interest in the reasearch material nor the books themselves, while being a KnowNothingKnowItAll about TheBeforetimes on a good day. All this indicates that he would have made a poor academic even if hadn't dropped out of the career path.
[[/folder]]
* ''Webcomic/StandStillStaySilent'': This is a dodged bullet for Emil. In his youth, he was studying to be an academic with private tutors. When his wealthy family lost its money, he switched to public school and implicitly did poorly because the private tutors had failed to teach him properly. After that, he decided to enlist into the DemolitionsExpert branch of the army, mostly because it suited his MadBomber and {{Pyromaniac}} tendencies well. In the first arc of the story proper, he joins an expedition that is officially doing reasearch, but actually scavengig for book from TheBeforetimes in UrbanRuins. Emil doesn't show any interest in the reasearch material nor the books themselves, while being a KnowNothingKnowItAll about TheBeforetimes on a good day. All this indicates that he would have made a poor academic even if hadn't dropped out of the career path.
[[/folder]]
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** Michael Scott is a better salesman than he is a manager.
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** Michael Scott is a better salesman than he is a manager. When he held a secret second job as a telemarketer, he was able to connect with his clients; a far cry from his management position in which he uses to try and make friends with his employees [[RealityEnsues which may not be the best idea]]. When he was fired from Dunder-Mifflin, he started his own paper company and we get to see his salesmanship shine once again and win over prospective clients.
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* ''Series/BoyMeetsWorld'': Cory's dad, Alan, owns a grocery store and hates it. The only reason he got the job is because his own father had owned it and had given him a job, then promoted him several times until he took over running it. After several seasons, he sells the store and becomes owner of a sporting goods store, which he enjoys much more than the grocery store.
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* In ''Literaure/CaptainUnderpants'' Mr. Krupp is a curmudgeon of a principal who absolutely despises children and runs Jerome Horwitz Elementary School in a way akin to a penitentiary. He only picks teachers and faculty that can share in his idea of torturing children and making them feel miserable all while maintaining a setting where knowledge and order is emphasized at every moment. Obviously as his alter-ego Captain Underpants is the exact opposite of Mr. Krupp in every way.
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* In ''Literaure/CaptainUnderpants'' ''Literature/CaptainUnderpants'' Mr. Krupp is a curmudgeon of a principal who absolutely despises children and runs Jerome Horwitz Elementary School in a way akin to a penitentiary. He only picks teachers and faculty that can share in his idea of torturing children and making them feel miserable all while maintaining a setting where knowledge and order is emphasized at every moment. Obviously as his alter-ego Captain Underpants is the exact opposite of Mr. Krupp in every way.
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* In ''Literaure/CaptainUnderpants'' Mr. Krupp is a curmudgeon of a principal who absolutely despises children and runs Jerome Horwitz Elementary School in a way akin to a penitentiary. He only picks teachers and faculty that can share in his idea of torturing children and making them feel miserable all while maintaining a setting where knowledge and order is emphasized at every moment. Obviously as his alter-ego Captain Underpants is the exact opposite of Mr. Krupp in every way.
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* ''Series/{{MASH}}'':
** "Too Many Cooks" - Private Paul Conway is a terrible infantryman, who is almost as dangerous to his own unit as the enemy. However, it turns out he's ''also'' a gourmet chef who can turn even [[IndestructibleEdible Army food]] into a decent meal. It's just the Army being...[[VastBureaucracy well, the Army]]...that they made him a soldier. He eventually gets a transfer back to his old unit as their cook.
** "Your Retention, Please" had a corpsman who was deeply bitter with the Army and nearly got into a fistfight with a recruiting officer looking to get him to reenlist. He hotly tells the recruiter that back home he was a fully qualified surgical nurse, but because he was a man and the Army only offers commissions to ''female'' nurses he was forced to enlist as a Private and serves in a role where his skills are less useful.
** "Too Many Cooks" - Private Paul Conway is a terrible infantryman, who is almost as dangerous to his own unit as the enemy. However, it turns out he's ''also'' a gourmet chef who can turn even [[IndestructibleEdible Army food]] into a decent meal. It's just the Army being...[[VastBureaucracy well, the Army]]...that they made him a soldier. He eventually gets a transfer back to his old unit as their cook.
** "Your Retention, Please" had a corpsman who was deeply bitter with the Army and nearly got into a fistfight with a recruiting officer looking to get him to reenlist. He hotly tells the recruiter that back home he was a fully qualified surgical nurse, but because he was a man and the Army only offers commissions to ''female'' nurses he was forced to enlist as a Private and serves in a role where his skills are less useful.
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* ''Series/TheOfficeUS'': Michael Scott is a better salesman than he is a manager.
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* ''Series/TheOfficeUS'': ''Series/TheOfficeUS'':
** Michael Scott is a better salesman than he is amanager.manager.
** Kevin is a poor fit as an accountant, especially since outside of [[GeniusDitz special circumstances]] he's practically innumerate. In the SeriesFinale he finds fulfillment as a bar owner after Dwight fires him.
** Michael Scott is a better salesman than he is a
** Kevin is a poor fit as an accountant, especially since outside of [[GeniusDitz special circumstances]] he's practically innumerate. In the SeriesFinale he finds fulfillment as a bar owner after Dwight fires him.
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* ''WesternAnimation/{{Disenchantment}}'': Zog's ability to run a kingdom leaves much to be desired for, as he [[BadBoss treats his subjects like crap]] and is prone to making decisions that can be harmful to the kingdom ([[TooDumbToLive and a lot of times himself]]), earning the hatred of most of his subjects. Justified, as the only reason Zog is even king is because his brother died before he could take the throne and even admits that he wasn't all that interested in taking the position anyway, as he is much more suited to remaining a warrior than a ruler.
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* ''WesternAnimation/{{Disenchantment}}'': Zog's ''{{WesternAnimation/Disenchantment}}'': Zog is the King of Dreamland, but his ability to run a the kingdom [[TheCaligula leaves much to be desired for, for]], as he [[BadBoss treats his subjects like crap]] and is prone to making decisions that can be harmful to the kingdom ([[TooDumbToLive and a lot of times himself]]), earning the hatred of most of his subjects. Justified, as the only reason Zog is even king is because his brother died before he could take the throne throne, and even admits that he wasn't all that interested in taking the position anyway, as he is was much more suited to remaining a warrior {{warrior|Prince}} than a ruler.
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* In ''Film/HappyGilmore'', the titular Happy dreams to be in a hockey team, but he can't because he can't play very well. After discovering that he can hit a golf ball really far, he goes to a local range to hustle people for a few bucks, where a former pro golfer convinces him to compete in a local tournament, which he wins. Although Happy initially joins a pro golf tournament to earn the money to buy back his grandma's house, which she lost due to owing back taxes, he eventually discovers that both his mentor and his press agent/LoveInterest were right: he's a golfer, not a hockey player.
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* In ''Film/HappyGilmore'', the titular Happy dreams to be in a hockey team, but other than a (dangerously) powerful slapshot he can't because he can't actually play very well. well or even skate really. After discovering that he can hit his slapshot translates into an ability to drive a golf ball really ''really'' far, he goes to a local range to hustle people for a few bucks, where bucks. He's spotted by a former pro golfer who convinces him to compete in a local tournament, which he wins. Although Happy initially joins a pro golf tournament to earn the money to buy back his grandma's house, which she lost due to owing back taxes, he eventually discovers that both his mentor and his press agent/LoveInterest were right: he's a golfer, not a hockey player. When he puts in the time and effort to develop his short-game, he becomes one of the best.
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[[folder: Films - Animated]]
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[[folder: Films - Live Action]]
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* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'':
** In "Learning Curve", Tuvok takes four Maquis crewmembers who are not adjusting to Starfleet protocols or procedures in favor of doing things "the Maquis way" and runs them through a Starfleet "boot camp" to get them to shape up.
** In "Good Shepherd", Janeway takes three poor performing Starfleet crew on an away mission to try and get them to improve. The mission goes horribly awry and it's up to them to save the captain and get back to the ship. It's even noted in the episode they don't have the luxury of just transferring or discharging them and so the senior staff just has to work on getting them up to standard.
** In "Learning Curve", Tuvok takes four Maquis crewmembers who are not adjusting to Starfleet protocols or procedures in favor of doing things "the Maquis way" and runs them through a Starfleet "boot camp" to get them to shape up.
** In "Good Shepherd", Janeway takes three poor performing Starfleet crew on an away mission to try and get them to improve. The mission goes horribly awry and it's up to them to save the captain and get back to the ship. It's even noted in the episode they don't have the luxury of just transferring or discharging them and so the senior staff just has to work on getting them up to standard.
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In rare cases, the person may actually admit they are unsuited for the job but stick with it anyway. This can happen for several reasons:
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In rare cases, the person in question may actually admit they are unsuited for the job job, but stick with it anyway. This can happen for several reasons:
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NoRealLifeExamplesPlease
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Administrativa/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease
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[[/folder]]
!!Possible indexes: OccupationTropes, IndexFailure
!!Possible indexes: OccupationTropes, IndexFailure
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!!Possible indexes: OccupationTropes, IndexFailure
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Usually, employers tend to hire someone whose skills and drive match the job that's available. But sometimes, people can end up in a job they are blatantly unsuited for, either by lacking the skills to accomplish it, or by having a mindset that would be better suited for some other position. This can be the result of an employer trying to fill a position with ClosestThingWeGot, or because they just don't care enough to find the right candidate.
The employee in question can either be terrible at their misplaced position (resulting in HilarityEnsues), or by a surprising stroke of luck, their unique methods can actually make them quite successful at it.
In rare cases, the person may actually admit they are unsuited for the job but stick with it anyway. This can happen for several reasons:
-they have no other work options.
-other people, such as supervisors, expect them to remain in the job.
-they enjoy their work, the workplace, or their colleagues.
See also MisplacedKindergartenTeacher, where a teacher for older students inexplicably treats them like younger ones. Compare with ModernMajorGeneral, who is extremely competent at everything except his actual job. See also CutLexLuthorACheck. Can overlap with {{Nepotism}} if the person is only in their position because of a family member.
May also occur as a result of KlingonPromotion when the next highest ranked person in an organization is forced to take up the position of their superiors or SpareToTheThrone if the job involves monarchy and the one next in line proves to be underqualified for the job. See BusinessAsUnusual for when this drives the plot of a movie or story. Compare with TheAllegedExpert, HeroWithAnFInGood, MinionWithAnFInEvil, TheDilbertPrinciple, and ThePeterPrinciple.
Administrativa/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease
!!Examples:
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* ''Manga/HeavensLostProperty'': Astraea, a Delta-type Angeloid is tasked by Synapse with killing Tomoki. Unfortunately, due to [[CompetitiveBalance how Angeloids are made]], she has tons of power at her disposal, but [[TheDitz lacks the intelligence]] to be a successful killer and all her [[PokeThePoodle attempts are harmless and mediocre]], such as trying to poison Tomoki with a laxative. She's also way too nice to actually kill anyone, as she even tends to help out Tomoki and the others when she is supposed to be their enemy.
* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'': Team Rocket have often created or started working for a business in order to provide cover for their criminal activities. During this time, they prove more successful performing honest regular work than committing crimes, implying they would have better lives if they just gave up crime.
* In ''Anime/SecretOfCeruleanSand'', aboard the ''[[ShipOutOfWater Armadillo]]'', [[WrenchWench Jane Buxton]] and her butler-Private Teacher Chambellan were put, the former in the kitchens and the latter in tending to machines, and both sucked until they were switched.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ''ComicBook/GreenLantern'': G'nort Esplanade Gneemascher is a doglike alien buffoon who was given a fake GreenLanternRing by the Weaponers of Qward in an attempt to discredit the Corps. However, G'nort showed courage in helping to defeat the Qwardians, so he was nominated for membership in the Green Lantern Corps by Guy Gardner. He's still a buffoon, though, and is often sent on long missions, in isolated sectors, mostly to keep him from causing any trouble.
* The French kid's comic ''Les 4 As'' had one story where each of the stereotypical heroes (nerd, DumbJock, BigEater, ditzy beauty queen) got jobs that were clearly suited for one of the others (e.g. the jock working in a museum). By the end of the story, they'd all exchanged jobs and were doing far better at them.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Films - Animated]]
* ''WesternAnimation/AnimalCrackers2017'': When Brock, Owen's coworker at the dog biscuit factory, is given the authority to do so, Brock assigns Owen to do accounting work. Owen makes it clear that he's not qualified to do this, as his only background is from a circus and his current job is a taste tester. Brock still forces Owen to do this menial work to bully him.
* In ''WesternAnimation/ILostMyBody'', Naoufel has artistic talent, but as an orphaned immigrant in France, he's stuck trying to get by as a pizza delivery boy, which he is terrible at. Later, he gets a job as an apprentice to a woodworker, but he only takes the job as an excuse to get close to his boss' daughter, and ends up losing his hand because he's too easily distracted.
* ''Franchise/MonstersInc'': In the prequel, ''WesternAnimation/MonstersUniversity'', Mike Wazowski wanted to be the world's best scarer, but despite his encyclopedic knowledge of scare tactics, he had to face the AwfulTruth that he's not frightening enough to be a scarer, and gives up on his dream career. In [[WesternAnimation/MonstersInc the first movie]], it's Mike's knowledge that allows Sully to become the best scarer at Monsters Incorporated while working as his scare assistant, though after discovering that [[spoiler: children's laughter is several times more powerful than scream]] Mike finds his true calling [[spoiler: making children laugh as a comedian]].
** The book ''[[AllThereIntheManual Monsters, Inc.: The Essential Guide]]'' explains that scare assistants are monsters that want to be directly involved with scream extraction, and most are happy not having to go into closet doors, while some, like Mike, tried out to become scarers, didn't make the cut, and had to settle for the next best thing.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Films - Live Action]]
* ''Film/TheBigLebowski'': the eponymous Jeffrey Lebowski has an office wall full of civic awards and honors... Which is all a smokescreen, as it's revealed he's terrible at running a business. [[spoiler:Turns out he's ''much'' better at transferring company money to his own pocket via shady means]].
* In ''Film/HappyGilmore'', the titular Happy dreams to be in a hockey team, but he can't because he can't play very well. After discovering that he can hit a golf ball really far, he goes to a local range to hustle people for a few bucks, where a former pro golfer convinces him to compete in a local tournament, which he wins. Although Happy initially joins a pro golf tournament to earn the money to buy back his grandma's house, which she lost due to owing back taxes, he eventually discovers that both his mentor and his press agent/LoveInterest were right: he's a golfer, not a hockey player.
* In ''Film/{{Moneyball}}'', Billy Beane confesses that he should have never been a Major League baseball player right out of high school. He did not have enough rough talent to become a professional player and he soon flamed out. Instead, he should have accepted an athletic scholarship at Stanford which would have both made him a more seasoned player and given him a college degree that he could have used to point his life in a different direction if he chose not to pursue baseball professionally after college. On the other hand, he seems pretty content with his current job as the General Manager of the Oakland Athletics.
* ''Film/MrMajestyk'' advises low-level extortioner Bobby Kopas that he's ill-suited to the thuggery necessary for his racket. Then Majestyk kicks Bobby's ass. After the climactic showdown against professional mobsters, Bobby is the sole survivor at the cabin. As the sheriff arrests and puts Bobby in the car, Majestyk once more advises him, "You're in the wrong line o' work, kid."
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Literature]]
* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', Robert Baratheon was a glorious fighter and general who managed to overthrow the Targaryen Dynasty, which had reigned for centuries. Unfortunately, he then became King, and turned out to be terrible at actually ruling his kingdom.
* Lampshaded in ''The Fall of Giants'', first book of ''Literature/TheCenturyTrilogy'', in which it's noted that the British government made Sir Edward Grey the Foreign Secretary despite the fact that he dislikes most foreigners and almost never travels overseas.
* ''Literature/{{Incompetence}}'' takes place in The United States Of Europe, where {{political correctness|GoneMad}} has reached DystopianEdict levels, and laws have been passed that forbid the discrimination of people based on race, class, gender, creed or competence. Thus, a society has been born where ''everyone'' is bad at their job because employers aren't allowed to use someone's ''actual ability to do the job'' as a reason to hire/fire someone. Most shoes are made of vegetable matter, a hotel room will only have furniture in it if you're lucky (and be completely non-existent if you're not), and signposts rarely agree with each other, let alone point the correct way.
* ''[[Literature/{{Redwall}} Outcast of Redwall]]'': The [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep Head Cook]] of Salamandastron makes terrible food and only keeps the job because SomeoneHasToDoIt. When a new Badger Lord takes over, the Cook is soon [[GracefullyDemoted happily reassigned]] to brewmaster, a job he enjoys and is excellent at.
* ''Literature/WarriorCats'': There are a few cases where a cat starts training to be a warrior and then realizes that they're not great at it and that they'd be more gifted at being a medicine cat, or vice versa. Notably, in ''The Sight'', Jaypaw starts training as a warrior and Hollypaw starts as a medicine cat apprentice, but they come to realize that they'd be better at the opposite job and come to Firestar nearly at the exact same time to request to change.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Live Action Television]]
* ''Series/BetterCallSaul'': Saul Goodman is not an ideal lawyer but makes commercials people like and seems very knowledgeable in film making; there was even an episode where he offered to make commercials for others because he got in trouble with his lawyer shenanigans.
* ''Series/DadsArmy'': Mr. Mainwaring, formerly a competent (if uptight) bank manager, ends up becoming a highly incapable Army officer after lying about his service history.
* In one episode of ''Series/DiagnosisMurder'', Jessie chews out one of the student doctors he's training for not checking a patient's chart, and almost administering her medication that could have killed her. By the end of the episode, it's revealed that only reason the student has lasted this long is because his father is also a doctor and wants his son to follow him into medicine, and has been secretly helping him cheat on the medical exams.
* The ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "The Woman Who Fell to Earth" implies that this is the case for Carl, a tower crane operator with a fear of heights and low self-esteem that seems to be caused by him being unsuited to his job (he has to listen to a recorded motivational speech, telling him his contribution is valued, while working). It's also implied that he only got the job through {{Nepotism}}, as he mentions several times that the company he works for is owned by his dad.
* ''Series/FamilyMatters'':
** The episode "Best Friends" features Eddie, at the time manager of the local fast food joint "Mighty Weenie", giving Waldo a job after being fired from several others. The problem is that Waldo is TheDitz and he proceeds to mess up every task assigned to him, putting Eddie in the dilemma of possibly having to fire his best friend. It's not until a talk with Carl that Eddie realizes that the issue isn't Waldo being bad at his job, but Eddie giving him jobs he's bad at. Once he understands this, Eddie puts Waldo, a naturally gifted SupremeChef, behind the fryer where he excels.
** When Eddie asks for Carl's advice in "Best Friends" on what to do about possibly having to fire Waldo, the example Carl gives to demonstrate how he should help Waldo play to his strengths is his old partner, who was miserable as a beat cop. However, he was soon transferred to being a mugging decoy, where he would be DisguisedInDrag to lure out potential muggers and purse-snatchers. Carl notes that he'd never seen his partner happier.
* ''Series/{{Fargo}}'' Season One: Gus Grimly is a well-meaning but incompetent police officer, and his natural timidity sets off the plot when Lorne Malvo intimidates him into letting Malvo go at a traffic stop. His department often uses him to sub for animal control, and he himself admits to Molly he didn't want to be a cop but a friend talked him into it; after the TimeSkip we see him working his dream job as a mailman. [[spoiler:He ultimately redeems himself by getting the drop on Malvo and killing him.]]
* ''Series/FawltyTowers'': [[Creator/JohnCleese Basil Fawlty]] became a hotel proprietor - an occupation he is completely, utterly, woefully, unfit for, in every possible way.
* In ''Series/FilthyRich'', Eric Monreaux is a nice guy and a beautiful singer, but following the apparent death of his father, he feels compelled to make a go at taking over the family business, where he proves to be a HorribleJudgeOfCharacter, letting his pastor brother-in-law steer him into a needless conflict with his mother, who inherited control of the company.
* In ''Series/LawAndOrder'', Serena Southerlyn is eventually fired from her job as an ADA because she keeps empathizing with defendants in the cases that she and Jack [=McCoy=] are prosecuting.
* In ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'', Munch is initially partnered with Brian Cassidy, a nice young guy who turns out to be a terrible fit for dealing with the kind of violent crimes that the SVU investigates. After he breaks down from investigating a gang rape, Capt. Cragen helps him transfer over to Narcotics. It's mentioned more than once that this is a common occurrence in the SVU; most detectives can only put in a few years there before the horrors of the job - and the inability to discuss them with loved ones - burns them out.
* ''Series/TheOfficeUS'': Michael Scott is a better salesman than he is a manager.
* ''Series/OpenAllHours'': [[Creator/DavidJason Grenville]], a man who dreams of romance and travelling the world, grudgingly (and poorly) runs a backstreet neighbourhood general store, mostly because he cannot break away from [[Series/TheTwoRonnies his overbearing uncle]], who needs a cheap assistant.
* In the ''Series/PennAndTellerBullshit'' episode on Astrology, a woman gets a pair of astrological readings to get help deciding what type of job she should get. Penn himself lampshades how useless the two readings would be by describing it as "the least we could do".
** For the first reading, the astrologist lists off a [[LongList massive number of jobs]], which is completely useless to her for actually making a decision.
** The second astrologist ''insists'' the woman become a teacher. Afterwards, the woman tells the camera that she [[ChildHater absolutely hates children]] and has no interest in becoming a teacher.
* On ''Series/PersonOfInterest'', flashbacks show that Sameen Shaw once trained to be a doctor. Shaw has a medical condition that suppresses her emotions and makes it very hard for her to feel things like happiness, sadness or grief. After a particularly bad death notification incident, her supervisor told her that someone with LackOfEmpathy really should not be a doctor. She took this advice to heart and switched professions to government assassin.
* ''Series/RedDwarf'': In "Timewave", the SS Enconium, a 24th Century ship, is shifted into the Dwarfers' time. In the time they came from, [[LoonyLaws criticism has been outlawed]], with anyone who breaks the law being arrested. This has given the crew free reign to take on whatever jobs they want, regardless of ability, with hairdressers becoming navigators, and doctors being lift technicians. As a result, the ship is a total mess, not to mention on the verge of crashing into a moon.
* ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'': Doug is an inept doctor, killing many patients. Eventually he finds success as a coroner. Since he's such a horrible doctor, he's seen patients die (often by killing them) in many ''many'' ways, which comes in handy as a coroner.
* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': Nog and his father Rom are members of the Ferengi, a ProudMerchantRace who believe that attaining profit is the most important thing in the universe. Rom is a mechanical genius, who could've easily become chief engineer of a starship. But as Nog (who chose to be the first Ferengi to join Starfleet) laments, his father decided to pursue profit like a "good Ferengi", and proved himself unable to achieve any kind of business success whatsoever.
* ''Watchdog'', a BBC consumer guide series, showed how maintaining iPhones was something two brothers in Leicester were ''clearly not cut out for'' and were only in it with MoneyDearBoy in mind, after a string of phones either exploding or batteries wearing thin ''quickly''.
* The late Creator/StanLee hosted ''Series/WhoWantsToBeASuperhero'' starting in 2007. One contestant dubbed himself the Iron Enforcer, and made a middling effort in the trials, resulting in elimination. TheStinger, however, had Lee proposition Enforcer to become the series super''villain'' instead, a role he took up with relish.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Theatre]]
* In ''Theatre/DeathOfASalesman'', the tragedy of Biff Loman is that he found success and contentment as a farmhand, but because it's not the kind of lifestyle that his father Willy considers "successful", he abandoned that job and is instead struggling to survive as a businessman, which he hates and has no proficiency at, just to impress Willy.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Video Games]]
* The Vestal in ''VideoGame/DarkestDungeon'' is trying her best to be a pious and chaste nun, but her repressed sexual desires interfere with her holy duties, not just the "chastity" part. In a comic showing her backstory, she was scolded by one of her superiors for allowing a sacred fire to die out due to her [[DistractedByTheSexy lusting over an intimate couple]].
* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'': Felicia is rather lacklustre at being a maid due to her extreme clumsiness, but is actually much better as a fighter, much to her dismay as Felicia tries hard at her job and is not very interested in being a soldier. After the war is over, Felicia's paired endings have her quit being a maid and becoming a military commander instead.
* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'' has several characters who are training very studiously to become knights in order to improve their or their families' socio-economic situation, but it is clear to everyone that their real talents lie elsewhere. Of particular note are Raphael and Ignatz, two merchant sons pushed by familial circumstances into a military career, even though one is a much better cook, while the other is a genius painter. After the war, as long as they survive, their [[ModularEpilogue solo endings]] see them leave the military and dedicate themselves to their respective civilian careers.
* Jacquelin, the protagonist of ''VideoGame/GoingUnder'', signs up to work for a marketing internship. She ends up being forced to go underground to fight monsters from failed tech startups instead.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Web Video]]
* ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'':
** Chorus Federal Army General Donald Doyle is terrible at his job, having little to no combat experience and flees at the first sign of danger. He was originally the personal secretary to the brigadier and was promoted only because everyone else that outranked him was either killed or fled the planet.
** Doc is frequently shown to be largely incompetent at his job as a medic, providing treatments to injured soldiers that either don't work or make the problem worse. He is shown to be far better as an actual soldier than a medic, being able to fight just as well as the rest of the Reds and Blues under the right circumstances.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'': Brian Lewis, the Principal of Steve's school, is absolutely terrible at his job, showing very little concern for his students, and being perfectly willing to take advantage of their talents to achieve his own goals. Several episodes make it clear that Lewis is a former convicted criminal, and that he saw far more success in his old line of work than the new.
* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'':
** G'nort's origins are slightly different in this series: He had an influential uncle who pulled some strings to get him the job. The Guardians of the Universe, well aware of G'nort's lack of ability, assigned him to a sector of space with no intelligent life, so he wouldn't cause any problems. But despite being just as big a buffoon as his comics counterpart (even needing to write the Green Lantern oath on his arm), he is still noble and dedicated to his work.
** Ronnie Raymond is a college physics professor who dresses and talks like a football coach. While he is fully knowledgeable of the subject he is teaching, he tends to use football terms to describe it, confusing his students to no end.
* ''WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers'': In "Short Order Crooks," a pair of burglars attempt to tunnel into a bank vault, using a derelict diner as cover. When Monterey Jack tries to use the diner's facilities to brew some cheddar chowder, the result is the crooks have to really serve customers, many of which are police officers from the nearby precinct station. It turns out Monty's chowder attracts enough customers to make the diner lucrative.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Disenchantment}}'': Zog's ability to run a kingdom leaves much to be desired for, as he [[BadBoss treats his subjects like crap]] and is prone to making decisions that can be harmful to the kingdom ([[TooDumbToLive and a lot of times himself]]), earning the hatred of most of his subjects. Justified, as the only reason Zog is even king is because his brother died before he could take the throne and even admits that he wasn't all that interested in taking the position anyway, as he is much more suited to remaining a warrior than a ruler.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheDreamstone'' has Rufus, the protagonist, being MrImagination in all his jobs and getting fired from all of them ''due to that''. Only when he gets a job working with the Dream Wizard does he find a job he's suited for. In the show's FanFics, this is one of TheStationsOfTheCanon that ''cannot'' be avoided and is sometimes revisited in {{Flashback}} scenes.
* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': Several of the show's signature [[CutawayGag cutaway gags]] revolve around this idea, with such examples as [[Franchise/StarWars Darth Vader]] working as a meter maid, or Film/EdwardScissorhands acting as a babysitter.
* ''WesternAnimation/FishHooks'':
** Coach Sammons is a high school sports coach whose flamboyant, overly friendly and encouraging attitude, coupled with his love of singing and performing, makes it clear he'd probably be more effective as an acting or drama teacher. He runs the football team (granted, to some success) more akin to a dance troupe.
** By contrast, Mr Muscles, the school's actual drama teacher, while supportive and friendly, has a terrifying deep voice, authoritative nature and muscular physique that would probably be more effective as a gym teacher (his attempt to reassure Albert not to give up on his dreams after failing to get the part just leaves him in tears because of how harsh he sounds).
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Grossology}}'': A RunningGag has the Director demonstrating this trope, as he is almost never on the same page (or even in the same book for that matter) as his employees, a frequent user of InsaneTrollLogic, is prone to easily getting grossed out at the smallest of things, and is always trying to take credit for Ty and Abby's work despite hardly doing anything other than briefing them on missions. Despite all of this, he does care about his subordinates and is always there for them in their times of need.
* ''WesternAnimation/InvisibleNetworkOfKids'': Ms. Macbeth is grossly incompetent at teaching, often feeding her students misinformation on subjects while assigning them copious amounts of impossibly hard work to do in a short timespan. She is however, much more proficient and knowledgeable at the jobs and methods she uses when doing any kind of EvilPlan to take over the school.
* ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPandaLegendsOfAwesomeness'': The croc bandits are very lousy at their profession despite their best efforts, but under the right circumstances have been shown to excel in other fields of work, such as being pretty good at kung fu when trained in it.
* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls2016'': In "Power Up Puff", the girls watch a cooking competition where one of the contestants is a scientist whose MadScientist methods wind up turning his dish (pigs in a blanket) into a giant monster. He appears again on a redemption episode having learned nothing from his last attempt at cooking and ends up creating another monster out of pimento meatloaf.
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'', the actor playing Reptar in "Reptar on Ice" mentions that "I can't skate, I hate kids, and lizards give me the creeps".
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Due to laziness and lack of motivation, Homer is largely incompetent at his job at the power plant, either being the source of many problems that occur there or making existing ones worse. And he's the ''safety inspector''. It's hard to think of a worse job for someone like him. Many episodes show he is rather skilled at a great deal of other professions, like being a referee, a chess master, or a bodyguard, to name a few.
* ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'': Plankton is absolutely ''horrible'' at running a restaurant. His chum-based dishes [[LethalChef are all inedible at best and outright harmful at worst]] (A fake customer mentions he had to get his stomach pumped twice before going to do it a third time from eating so much of it), has lousy customer service skills because of his short temper, and has to resort to trying and always failing to steal the Krabby Patty secret formula from the Krusty Krab to make his restaurant a success. He is a much better scientist, whose skills rival (or even at times surpasses) that of Sandy and would have much better luck at profiting from it if not for his obsession with stealing the formula.
* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseFuture'': In "Guidance", Amethyst manages to assign jobs to all the gems living on Earth where their former professions allow them to excel at them. Steven however, feels that their jobs are too similar to what they used to do back on Homeworld and switches up their jobs despite Amethyst's protests that this is not the case and that those jobs are what the Gems wanted to do. Unsurprisingly, things quickly turn to chaos when the gems prove to be horrible at the jobs Steven assigns them to, requiring him and Amethyst to fix things before someone gets hurt.
* While the level of it varies DependingOnTheWriter, many episodes of ''WesternAnimation/ThomasTheTankEngine'' have engines switched or relocated to different jobs, often leading to [[CatchPhrase confusion and delay]]. This is especially common when lightweight tank engines switch jobs with strong tender engines. For example, Thomas, Percy and Toby on separate occasions have been made to pull the Express, a large passenger train they can barely move and is usually located to Gordon or James. They have no problems shunting or taking goods trains however, jobs Gordon and James loathe and routinely botch from lack of effort or behaviour issues.
* ''WesternAnimation/TimeSquad'' has a number of [[RichardNixonTheUsedCarSalesman historical figures that are discovered to be involved in other lines of work]] that are clearly not suited for them, but dream of succeeding in these alternative jobs regardless. Or worse, the historical figures are so terrible at their "correct" job that the Time Squad has to basically figure out how to reinvent the person's role in history just to have some shred of accuracy.
* ''Franchise/TransformersGeneration1'': Due to the near constant losses brought about by their ForeverWar, the Autobots and Decepticons are so desperate for functioning troops that they'll place soldiers into positions that they are completely unsuited for:
** The Autobot Action Master Sprocket is a BloodKnight who never takes prisoners... yet, due to poor resource allocation management, he has been placed in a surveillance position. This often results in a loss of valuable intel, since he simply can't observe Decepticon activity without attacking. To his credit, he always reports back on what was happening up until that point.
** Nautilator was assigned to be a member of the Seacons, the Decepticons' premier underwater assault team. While he loves the ocean, he is a poor swimmer, and can't navigate to save his life. His teammates are deeply irritated at having to constantly rescue him from the depths.
** Before becoming a [[EquippableAlly Targetmaster]], the [[HumanAliens Nebulan]] Holepunch was an office manager. He somehow gained the position despite not having received any managerial training, and possessing poor people skills coupled with an overly-bossy manner. He brings all this and ''less'' to the Autobot cause, often distracting his teammates with self-important requests.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Wayside}}'': Principal Kidswatter's skills at running a school are almost nonexistent, he's dumber than a sack of hammers, and is incapable of performing the simplest of tasks like walking through doorways, but is shown at times to be a lot more proficient in other careers like bullfighting. Louis even admits that Kidswatter doesn't do much around the school (Todd when acting as Principal For A Day ends up doing more work in one day than Kidswatter does in a year) and is only kept around because he's the only one who knows how to keep the school from falling over.
* ''WesternAnimation/WeBareBears'': In "Cupcake Job," the bears go to work at an automated cupcake stand, but the manager places them in exactly the wrong tasks: Grizz (bombastic and friendly) has to work the cupcake ATM, Panda (tech-savvy) is on the production line, and Ice Bear (quick reflexes and good in a crisis) is the dancing mascot. Since none of them are assigned to their strong suits, the job becomes a complete disaster (Except for Ice Bear, who becomes an impromptu street performer).
[[/folder]]
!!Possible indexes: OccupationTropes, IndexFailure
The employee in question can either be terrible at their misplaced position (resulting in HilarityEnsues), or by a surprising stroke of luck, their unique methods can actually make them quite successful at it.
In rare cases, the person may actually admit they are unsuited for the job but stick with it anyway. This can happen for several reasons:
-they have no other work options.
-other people, such as supervisors, expect them to remain in the job.
-they enjoy their work, the workplace, or their colleagues.
See also MisplacedKindergartenTeacher, where a teacher for older students inexplicably treats them like younger ones. Compare with ModernMajorGeneral, who is extremely competent at everything except his actual job. See also CutLexLuthorACheck. Can overlap with {{Nepotism}} if the person is only in their position because of a family member.
May also occur as a result of KlingonPromotion when the next highest ranked person in an organization is forced to take up the position of their superiors or SpareToTheThrone if the job involves monarchy and the one next in line proves to be underqualified for the job. See BusinessAsUnusual for when this drives the plot of a movie or story. Compare with TheAllegedExpert, HeroWithAnFInGood, MinionWithAnFInEvil, TheDilbertPrinciple, and ThePeterPrinciple.
Administrativa/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease
!!Examples:
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* ''Manga/HeavensLostProperty'': Astraea, a Delta-type Angeloid is tasked by Synapse with killing Tomoki. Unfortunately, due to [[CompetitiveBalance how Angeloids are made]], she has tons of power at her disposal, but [[TheDitz lacks the intelligence]] to be a successful killer and all her [[PokeThePoodle attempts are harmless and mediocre]], such as trying to poison Tomoki with a laxative. She's also way too nice to actually kill anyone, as she even tends to help out Tomoki and the others when she is supposed to be their enemy.
* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'': Team Rocket have often created or started working for a business in order to provide cover for their criminal activities. During this time, they prove more successful performing honest regular work than committing crimes, implying they would have better lives if they just gave up crime.
* In ''Anime/SecretOfCeruleanSand'', aboard the ''[[ShipOutOfWater Armadillo]]'', [[WrenchWench Jane Buxton]] and her butler-Private Teacher Chambellan were put, the former in the kitchens and the latter in tending to machines, and both sucked until they were switched.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ''ComicBook/GreenLantern'': G'nort Esplanade Gneemascher is a doglike alien buffoon who was given a fake GreenLanternRing by the Weaponers of Qward in an attempt to discredit the Corps. However, G'nort showed courage in helping to defeat the Qwardians, so he was nominated for membership in the Green Lantern Corps by Guy Gardner. He's still a buffoon, though, and is often sent on long missions, in isolated sectors, mostly to keep him from causing any trouble.
* The French kid's comic ''Les 4 As'' had one story where each of the stereotypical heroes (nerd, DumbJock, BigEater, ditzy beauty queen) got jobs that were clearly suited for one of the others (e.g. the jock working in a museum). By the end of the story, they'd all exchanged jobs and were doing far better at them.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Films - Animated]]
* ''WesternAnimation/AnimalCrackers2017'': When Brock, Owen's coworker at the dog biscuit factory, is given the authority to do so, Brock assigns Owen to do accounting work. Owen makes it clear that he's not qualified to do this, as his only background is from a circus and his current job is a taste tester. Brock still forces Owen to do this menial work to bully him.
* In ''WesternAnimation/ILostMyBody'', Naoufel has artistic talent, but as an orphaned immigrant in France, he's stuck trying to get by as a pizza delivery boy, which he is terrible at. Later, he gets a job as an apprentice to a woodworker, but he only takes the job as an excuse to get close to his boss' daughter, and ends up losing his hand because he's too easily distracted.
* ''Franchise/MonstersInc'': In the prequel, ''WesternAnimation/MonstersUniversity'', Mike Wazowski wanted to be the world's best scarer, but despite his encyclopedic knowledge of scare tactics, he had to face the AwfulTruth that he's not frightening enough to be a scarer, and gives up on his dream career. In [[WesternAnimation/MonstersInc the first movie]], it's Mike's knowledge that allows Sully to become the best scarer at Monsters Incorporated while working as his scare assistant, though after discovering that [[spoiler: children's laughter is several times more powerful than scream]] Mike finds his true calling [[spoiler: making children laugh as a comedian]].
** The book ''[[AllThereIntheManual Monsters, Inc.: The Essential Guide]]'' explains that scare assistants are monsters that want to be directly involved with scream extraction, and most are happy not having to go into closet doors, while some, like Mike, tried out to become scarers, didn't make the cut, and had to settle for the next best thing.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Films - Live Action]]
* ''Film/TheBigLebowski'': the eponymous Jeffrey Lebowski has an office wall full of civic awards and honors... Which is all a smokescreen, as it's revealed he's terrible at running a business. [[spoiler:Turns out he's ''much'' better at transferring company money to his own pocket via shady means]].
* In ''Film/HappyGilmore'', the titular Happy dreams to be in a hockey team, but he can't because he can't play very well. After discovering that he can hit a golf ball really far, he goes to a local range to hustle people for a few bucks, where a former pro golfer convinces him to compete in a local tournament, which he wins. Although Happy initially joins a pro golf tournament to earn the money to buy back his grandma's house, which she lost due to owing back taxes, he eventually discovers that both his mentor and his press agent/LoveInterest were right: he's a golfer, not a hockey player.
* In ''Film/{{Moneyball}}'', Billy Beane confesses that he should have never been a Major League baseball player right out of high school. He did not have enough rough talent to become a professional player and he soon flamed out. Instead, he should have accepted an athletic scholarship at Stanford which would have both made him a more seasoned player and given him a college degree that he could have used to point his life in a different direction if he chose not to pursue baseball professionally after college. On the other hand, he seems pretty content with his current job as the General Manager of the Oakland Athletics.
* ''Film/MrMajestyk'' advises low-level extortioner Bobby Kopas that he's ill-suited to the thuggery necessary for his racket. Then Majestyk kicks Bobby's ass. After the climactic showdown against professional mobsters, Bobby is the sole survivor at the cabin. As the sheriff arrests and puts Bobby in the car, Majestyk once more advises him, "You're in the wrong line o' work, kid."
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Literature]]
* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', Robert Baratheon was a glorious fighter and general who managed to overthrow the Targaryen Dynasty, which had reigned for centuries. Unfortunately, he then became King, and turned out to be terrible at actually ruling his kingdom.
* Lampshaded in ''The Fall of Giants'', first book of ''Literature/TheCenturyTrilogy'', in which it's noted that the British government made Sir Edward Grey the Foreign Secretary despite the fact that he dislikes most foreigners and almost never travels overseas.
* ''Literature/{{Incompetence}}'' takes place in The United States Of Europe, where {{political correctness|GoneMad}} has reached DystopianEdict levels, and laws have been passed that forbid the discrimination of people based on race, class, gender, creed or competence. Thus, a society has been born where ''everyone'' is bad at their job because employers aren't allowed to use someone's ''actual ability to do the job'' as a reason to hire/fire someone. Most shoes are made of vegetable matter, a hotel room will only have furniture in it if you're lucky (and be completely non-existent if you're not), and signposts rarely agree with each other, let alone point the correct way.
* ''[[Literature/{{Redwall}} Outcast of Redwall]]'': The [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep Head Cook]] of Salamandastron makes terrible food and only keeps the job because SomeoneHasToDoIt. When a new Badger Lord takes over, the Cook is soon [[GracefullyDemoted happily reassigned]] to brewmaster, a job he enjoys and is excellent at.
* ''Literature/WarriorCats'': There are a few cases where a cat starts training to be a warrior and then realizes that they're not great at it and that they'd be more gifted at being a medicine cat, or vice versa. Notably, in ''The Sight'', Jaypaw starts training as a warrior and Hollypaw starts as a medicine cat apprentice, but they come to realize that they'd be better at the opposite job and come to Firestar nearly at the exact same time to request to change.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Live Action Television]]
* ''Series/BetterCallSaul'': Saul Goodman is not an ideal lawyer but makes commercials people like and seems very knowledgeable in film making; there was even an episode where he offered to make commercials for others because he got in trouble with his lawyer shenanigans.
* ''Series/DadsArmy'': Mr. Mainwaring, formerly a competent (if uptight) bank manager, ends up becoming a highly incapable Army officer after lying about his service history.
* In one episode of ''Series/DiagnosisMurder'', Jessie chews out one of the student doctors he's training for not checking a patient's chart, and almost administering her medication that could have killed her. By the end of the episode, it's revealed that only reason the student has lasted this long is because his father is also a doctor and wants his son to follow him into medicine, and has been secretly helping him cheat on the medical exams.
* The ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "The Woman Who Fell to Earth" implies that this is the case for Carl, a tower crane operator with a fear of heights and low self-esteem that seems to be caused by him being unsuited to his job (he has to listen to a recorded motivational speech, telling him his contribution is valued, while working). It's also implied that he only got the job through {{Nepotism}}, as he mentions several times that the company he works for is owned by his dad.
* ''Series/FamilyMatters'':
** The episode "Best Friends" features Eddie, at the time manager of the local fast food joint "Mighty Weenie", giving Waldo a job after being fired from several others. The problem is that Waldo is TheDitz and he proceeds to mess up every task assigned to him, putting Eddie in the dilemma of possibly having to fire his best friend. It's not until a talk with Carl that Eddie realizes that the issue isn't Waldo being bad at his job, but Eddie giving him jobs he's bad at. Once he understands this, Eddie puts Waldo, a naturally gifted SupremeChef, behind the fryer where he excels.
** When Eddie asks for Carl's advice in "Best Friends" on what to do about possibly having to fire Waldo, the example Carl gives to demonstrate how he should help Waldo play to his strengths is his old partner, who was miserable as a beat cop. However, he was soon transferred to being a mugging decoy, where he would be DisguisedInDrag to lure out potential muggers and purse-snatchers. Carl notes that he'd never seen his partner happier.
* ''Series/{{Fargo}}'' Season One: Gus Grimly is a well-meaning but incompetent police officer, and his natural timidity sets off the plot when Lorne Malvo intimidates him into letting Malvo go at a traffic stop. His department often uses him to sub for animal control, and he himself admits to Molly he didn't want to be a cop but a friend talked him into it; after the TimeSkip we see him working his dream job as a mailman. [[spoiler:He ultimately redeems himself by getting the drop on Malvo and killing him.]]
* ''Series/FawltyTowers'': [[Creator/JohnCleese Basil Fawlty]] became a hotel proprietor - an occupation he is completely, utterly, woefully, unfit for, in every possible way.
* In ''Series/FilthyRich'', Eric Monreaux is a nice guy and a beautiful singer, but following the apparent death of his father, he feels compelled to make a go at taking over the family business, where he proves to be a HorribleJudgeOfCharacter, letting his pastor brother-in-law steer him into a needless conflict with his mother, who inherited control of the company.
* In ''Series/LawAndOrder'', Serena Southerlyn is eventually fired from her job as an ADA because she keeps empathizing with defendants in the cases that she and Jack [=McCoy=] are prosecuting.
* In ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'', Munch is initially partnered with Brian Cassidy, a nice young guy who turns out to be a terrible fit for dealing with the kind of violent crimes that the SVU investigates. After he breaks down from investigating a gang rape, Capt. Cragen helps him transfer over to Narcotics. It's mentioned more than once that this is a common occurrence in the SVU; most detectives can only put in a few years there before the horrors of the job - and the inability to discuss them with loved ones - burns them out.
* ''Series/TheOfficeUS'': Michael Scott is a better salesman than he is a manager.
* ''Series/OpenAllHours'': [[Creator/DavidJason Grenville]], a man who dreams of romance and travelling the world, grudgingly (and poorly) runs a backstreet neighbourhood general store, mostly because he cannot break away from [[Series/TheTwoRonnies his overbearing uncle]], who needs a cheap assistant.
* In the ''Series/PennAndTellerBullshit'' episode on Astrology, a woman gets a pair of astrological readings to get help deciding what type of job she should get. Penn himself lampshades how useless the two readings would be by describing it as "the least we could do".
** For the first reading, the astrologist lists off a [[LongList massive number of jobs]], which is completely useless to her for actually making a decision.
** The second astrologist ''insists'' the woman become a teacher. Afterwards, the woman tells the camera that she [[ChildHater absolutely hates children]] and has no interest in becoming a teacher.
* On ''Series/PersonOfInterest'', flashbacks show that Sameen Shaw once trained to be a doctor. Shaw has a medical condition that suppresses her emotions and makes it very hard for her to feel things like happiness, sadness or grief. After a particularly bad death notification incident, her supervisor told her that someone with LackOfEmpathy really should not be a doctor. She took this advice to heart and switched professions to government assassin.
* ''Series/RedDwarf'': In "Timewave", the SS Enconium, a 24th Century ship, is shifted into the Dwarfers' time. In the time they came from, [[LoonyLaws criticism has been outlawed]], with anyone who breaks the law being arrested. This has given the crew free reign to take on whatever jobs they want, regardless of ability, with hairdressers becoming navigators, and doctors being lift technicians. As a result, the ship is a total mess, not to mention on the verge of crashing into a moon.
* ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'': Doug is an inept doctor, killing many patients. Eventually he finds success as a coroner. Since he's such a horrible doctor, he's seen patients die (often by killing them) in many ''many'' ways, which comes in handy as a coroner.
* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': Nog and his father Rom are members of the Ferengi, a ProudMerchantRace who believe that attaining profit is the most important thing in the universe. Rom is a mechanical genius, who could've easily become chief engineer of a starship. But as Nog (who chose to be the first Ferengi to join Starfleet) laments, his father decided to pursue profit like a "good Ferengi", and proved himself unable to achieve any kind of business success whatsoever.
* ''Watchdog'', a BBC consumer guide series, showed how maintaining iPhones was something two brothers in Leicester were ''clearly not cut out for'' and were only in it with MoneyDearBoy in mind, after a string of phones either exploding or batteries wearing thin ''quickly''.
* The late Creator/StanLee hosted ''Series/WhoWantsToBeASuperhero'' starting in 2007. One contestant dubbed himself the Iron Enforcer, and made a middling effort in the trials, resulting in elimination. TheStinger, however, had Lee proposition Enforcer to become the series super''villain'' instead, a role he took up with relish.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Theatre]]
* In ''Theatre/DeathOfASalesman'', the tragedy of Biff Loman is that he found success and contentment as a farmhand, but because it's not the kind of lifestyle that his father Willy considers "successful", he abandoned that job and is instead struggling to survive as a businessman, which he hates and has no proficiency at, just to impress Willy.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Video Games]]
* The Vestal in ''VideoGame/DarkestDungeon'' is trying her best to be a pious and chaste nun, but her repressed sexual desires interfere with her holy duties, not just the "chastity" part. In a comic showing her backstory, she was scolded by one of her superiors for allowing a sacred fire to die out due to her [[DistractedByTheSexy lusting over an intimate couple]].
* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'': Felicia is rather lacklustre at being a maid due to her extreme clumsiness, but is actually much better as a fighter, much to her dismay as Felicia tries hard at her job and is not very interested in being a soldier. After the war is over, Felicia's paired endings have her quit being a maid and becoming a military commander instead.
* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'' has several characters who are training very studiously to become knights in order to improve their or their families' socio-economic situation, but it is clear to everyone that their real talents lie elsewhere. Of particular note are Raphael and Ignatz, two merchant sons pushed by familial circumstances into a military career, even though one is a much better cook, while the other is a genius painter. After the war, as long as they survive, their [[ModularEpilogue solo endings]] see them leave the military and dedicate themselves to their respective civilian careers.
* Jacquelin, the protagonist of ''VideoGame/GoingUnder'', signs up to work for a marketing internship. She ends up being forced to go underground to fight monsters from failed tech startups instead.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Web Video]]
* ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'':
** Chorus Federal Army General Donald Doyle is terrible at his job, having little to no combat experience and flees at the first sign of danger. He was originally the personal secretary to the brigadier and was promoted only because everyone else that outranked him was either killed or fled the planet.
** Doc is frequently shown to be largely incompetent at his job as a medic, providing treatments to injured soldiers that either don't work or make the problem worse. He is shown to be far better as an actual soldier than a medic, being able to fight just as well as the rest of the Reds and Blues under the right circumstances.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'': Brian Lewis, the Principal of Steve's school, is absolutely terrible at his job, showing very little concern for his students, and being perfectly willing to take advantage of their talents to achieve his own goals. Several episodes make it clear that Lewis is a former convicted criminal, and that he saw far more success in his old line of work than the new.
* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'':
** G'nort's origins are slightly different in this series: He had an influential uncle who pulled some strings to get him the job. The Guardians of the Universe, well aware of G'nort's lack of ability, assigned him to a sector of space with no intelligent life, so he wouldn't cause any problems. But despite being just as big a buffoon as his comics counterpart (even needing to write the Green Lantern oath on his arm), he is still noble and dedicated to his work.
** Ronnie Raymond is a college physics professor who dresses and talks like a football coach. While he is fully knowledgeable of the subject he is teaching, he tends to use football terms to describe it, confusing his students to no end.
* ''WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers'': In "Short Order Crooks," a pair of burglars attempt to tunnel into a bank vault, using a derelict diner as cover. When Monterey Jack tries to use the diner's facilities to brew some cheddar chowder, the result is the crooks have to really serve customers, many of which are police officers from the nearby precinct station. It turns out Monty's chowder attracts enough customers to make the diner lucrative.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Disenchantment}}'': Zog's ability to run a kingdom leaves much to be desired for, as he [[BadBoss treats his subjects like crap]] and is prone to making decisions that can be harmful to the kingdom ([[TooDumbToLive and a lot of times himself]]), earning the hatred of most of his subjects. Justified, as the only reason Zog is even king is because his brother died before he could take the throne and even admits that he wasn't all that interested in taking the position anyway, as he is much more suited to remaining a warrior than a ruler.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheDreamstone'' has Rufus, the protagonist, being MrImagination in all his jobs and getting fired from all of them ''due to that''. Only when he gets a job working with the Dream Wizard does he find a job he's suited for. In the show's FanFics, this is one of TheStationsOfTheCanon that ''cannot'' be avoided and is sometimes revisited in {{Flashback}} scenes.
* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': Several of the show's signature [[CutawayGag cutaway gags]] revolve around this idea, with such examples as [[Franchise/StarWars Darth Vader]] working as a meter maid, or Film/EdwardScissorhands acting as a babysitter.
* ''WesternAnimation/FishHooks'':
** Coach Sammons is a high school sports coach whose flamboyant, overly friendly and encouraging attitude, coupled with his love of singing and performing, makes it clear he'd probably be more effective as an acting or drama teacher. He runs the football team (granted, to some success) more akin to a dance troupe.
** By contrast, Mr Muscles, the school's actual drama teacher, while supportive and friendly, has a terrifying deep voice, authoritative nature and muscular physique that would probably be more effective as a gym teacher (his attempt to reassure Albert not to give up on his dreams after failing to get the part just leaves him in tears because of how harsh he sounds).
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Grossology}}'': A RunningGag has the Director demonstrating this trope, as he is almost never on the same page (or even in the same book for that matter) as his employees, a frequent user of InsaneTrollLogic, is prone to easily getting grossed out at the smallest of things, and is always trying to take credit for Ty and Abby's work despite hardly doing anything other than briefing them on missions. Despite all of this, he does care about his subordinates and is always there for them in their times of need.
* ''WesternAnimation/InvisibleNetworkOfKids'': Ms. Macbeth is grossly incompetent at teaching, often feeding her students misinformation on subjects while assigning them copious amounts of impossibly hard work to do in a short timespan. She is however, much more proficient and knowledgeable at the jobs and methods she uses when doing any kind of EvilPlan to take over the school.
* ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPandaLegendsOfAwesomeness'': The croc bandits are very lousy at their profession despite their best efforts, but under the right circumstances have been shown to excel in other fields of work, such as being pretty good at kung fu when trained in it.
* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls2016'': In "Power Up Puff", the girls watch a cooking competition where one of the contestants is a scientist whose MadScientist methods wind up turning his dish (pigs in a blanket) into a giant monster. He appears again on a redemption episode having learned nothing from his last attempt at cooking and ends up creating another monster out of pimento meatloaf.
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'', the actor playing Reptar in "Reptar on Ice" mentions that "I can't skate, I hate kids, and lizards give me the creeps".
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Due to laziness and lack of motivation, Homer is largely incompetent at his job at the power plant, either being the source of many problems that occur there or making existing ones worse. And he's the ''safety inspector''. It's hard to think of a worse job for someone like him. Many episodes show he is rather skilled at a great deal of other professions, like being a referee, a chess master, or a bodyguard, to name a few.
* ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'': Plankton is absolutely ''horrible'' at running a restaurant. His chum-based dishes [[LethalChef are all inedible at best and outright harmful at worst]] (A fake customer mentions he had to get his stomach pumped twice before going to do it a third time from eating so much of it), has lousy customer service skills because of his short temper, and has to resort to trying and always failing to steal the Krabby Patty secret formula from the Krusty Krab to make his restaurant a success. He is a much better scientist, whose skills rival (or even at times surpasses) that of Sandy and would have much better luck at profiting from it if not for his obsession with stealing the formula.
* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseFuture'': In "Guidance", Amethyst manages to assign jobs to all the gems living on Earth where their former professions allow them to excel at them. Steven however, feels that their jobs are too similar to what they used to do back on Homeworld and switches up their jobs despite Amethyst's protests that this is not the case and that those jobs are what the Gems wanted to do. Unsurprisingly, things quickly turn to chaos when the gems prove to be horrible at the jobs Steven assigns them to, requiring him and Amethyst to fix things before someone gets hurt.
* While the level of it varies DependingOnTheWriter, many episodes of ''WesternAnimation/ThomasTheTankEngine'' have engines switched or relocated to different jobs, often leading to [[CatchPhrase confusion and delay]]. This is especially common when lightweight tank engines switch jobs with strong tender engines. For example, Thomas, Percy and Toby on separate occasions have been made to pull the Express, a large passenger train they can barely move and is usually located to Gordon or James. They have no problems shunting or taking goods trains however, jobs Gordon and James loathe and routinely botch from lack of effort or behaviour issues.
* ''WesternAnimation/TimeSquad'' has a number of [[RichardNixonTheUsedCarSalesman historical figures that are discovered to be involved in other lines of work]] that are clearly not suited for them, but dream of succeeding in these alternative jobs regardless. Or worse, the historical figures are so terrible at their "correct" job that the Time Squad has to basically figure out how to reinvent the person's role in history just to have some shred of accuracy.
* ''Franchise/TransformersGeneration1'': Due to the near constant losses brought about by their ForeverWar, the Autobots and Decepticons are so desperate for functioning troops that they'll place soldiers into positions that they are completely unsuited for:
** The Autobot Action Master Sprocket is a BloodKnight who never takes prisoners... yet, due to poor resource allocation management, he has been placed in a surveillance position. This often results in a loss of valuable intel, since he simply can't observe Decepticon activity without attacking. To his credit, he always reports back on what was happening up until that point.
** Nautilator was assigned to be a member of the Seacons, the Decepticons' premier underwater assault team. While he loves the ocean, he is a poor swimmer, and can't navigate to save his life. His teammates are deeply irritated at having to constantly rescue him from the depths.
** Before becoming a [[EquippableAlly Targetmaster]], the [[HumanAliens Nebulan]] Holepunch was an office manager. He somehow gained the position despite not having received any managerial training, and possessing poor people skills coupled with an overly-bossy manner. He brings all this and ''less'' to the Autobot cause, often distracting his teammates with self-important requests.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Wayside}}'': Principal Kidswatter's skills at running a school are almost nonexistent, he's dumber than a sack of hammers, and is incapable of performing the simplest of tasks like walking through doorways, but is shown at times to be a lot more proficient in other careers like bullfighting. Louis even admits that Kidswatter doesn't do much around the school (Todd when acting as Principal For A Day ends up doing more work in one day than Kidswatter does in a year) and is only kept around because he's the only one who knows how to keep the school from falling over.
* ''WesternAnimation/WeBareBears'': In "Cupcake Job," the bears go to work at an automated cupcake stand, but the manager places them in exactly the wrong tasks: Grizz (bombastic and friendly) has to work the cupcake ATM, Panda (tech-savvy) is on the production line, and Ice Bear (quick reflexes and good in a crisis) is the dancing mascot. Since none of them are assigned to their strong suits, the job becomes a complete disaster (Except for Ice Bear, who becomes an impromptu street performer).
[[/folder]]
!!Possible indexes: OccupationTropes, IndexFailure
