Examples of "niche" jobs

[Poptart4]

Everyone on MN seems to work in a very niche job that very few people could actually do. Earning lots of money of course. But they can never say what this job is as that would be very outing

So out of curiosity, can someone please list a few of these niche jobs?

I’m a dresser for filming.
I also make historical reproduction clothes.
I also work from home as a bookkeeper.
It’s niche, not badly paid but there are a lot of other people who could definitely do my job.

My dad used to work on an oil rig. Apparently if a fire breaks out on an oil rig, there are literally a handful people in the world who could get the call to come and tackle it (think Red Adair or similar). I'm not sure that any of them post on MN though!

It's the culmination of details which gives you away as others have said.

I'm a HCP which there are 100,000s of in the UK. But then if I gave my profession, speciality ( which is niche)and geographical area that would be outing. I name change every time I give away something I think is too close to the bone.

I know of some who had quite a niche job - they investigated deaths in prison. Can't imagine there are many of them around.

I don't know anyone with a niche hobby though.

[quote sausagerollcake]www.google.com/amp/s/www.horseandhound.co.uk/features/cleaning-sheaths-the-bean-queen-665653/amp[/quote]
DO NOT CLICK THIS LINK IF YOU ARE EATING. CONTAINS GRAPHIC DESCRIPTIONS OF HORSE SMEGMA.

Yes, sausagerollcake that is a niche job. (Not envy. Not envy at all.)

There can only be so many lion and other big cats barbers🙈 I always imagine something like that

(And the secret hobbies are furniture making from human akin and bones)

I've had a job in the past that I wouldn't describe as niche, but they struggled to recruit for it, I'm not really sure why.

It was required that the person spoke two specific languages. I didn't apply for the job, they saw my CV online and contacted me. They said they had really struggled to find someone. When I left, they didn't get many applicants, and when they interviewed them, none were suitable, mainly because their language skills were not good enough. It was very low pay too, but they didn't put that in the job description, so I don't know why there were so few applicants.

I have a very common job, but I know an expert in yam production - niche job for this country, I suspect there are quite a few of them in South American or where ever it is that yams come from.
I also know a panda vet. There can't be too many of those around either.

I guess it depends on your background and experiences. I don't consider cave diving a niche sport because I know quite a few people who do that.

Thank you to the UN translator for NCing to give a proper description. Others on the thread still being super vague and just saying “niche” and qualifications over and over.... I’m no clearer as to what they do!

I’m a lawyer and completely replaceable by someone with the same or similar skills. DH works in finance at a bank where he’s been for about 15 years. It’s not niche, I reckon around 1000 people in London do his job + /- a few years seniority. But in the bigger picture that’s quite niche i suppose. He’s good at it and has all the right contacts now, and knows a good percentage of those things other 1000 similar people. Someone else could achieve that but they need to put in the years, and banks don’t take on as many grads as they used to.

@Organisedchaos2022

I’m not sure if my job is niche 🤔😂 I earn well, I am good at my job and so I am cherry picked a lot ! I have no issue with saying what I do but even then people still think your wage is false on mumsnet. Know one believes you if you earn over 50k.

Is it proofreading? ;)

It depends what level you go to as well, doesn't it?

I mean, I know dozens of academics (so not niche), but when you describe one as "industry-linked, investigating the weathering of stone in pre-17th century domestic buildings in the Cotswolds"* that suddenly becomes a whole lot more niche!

*I don't actually know anybody who does this in particular.

I used to know someone who was a fluffer....

Prior to what I do now, my position was niche - I was the only person in the world that did it. nb I wasn't the only person in the world who could do it, but it was something that only needed one person.

I am a scientist and the work involved one very small yet very important organism.

I have a niche job, many people could do it, but they would need training and experience. I have been trying retire for two years and the company hasn't been able to find anyone to replace me, so I have stayed on. No more though, I am retiring on 31st March. Yippee!!

I have a friend who is a professional horseracing photographer.
My optometrist used to check the sight of penguins (not many of those waddling in his door these days).

I do a fairly common job, but for a niche employer, so my specific experience and skills in that area are not that common. We are able to recruit to my department, but often will need to train people up.
However there are people in my organisation who are world experts on very specific things and there is probably no-one else in the world who knows as much as they do about that thing. They often do press interviews and consult for other orgs etc. None of us get paid that much though!

Dry stone walling! Although it won't make you rich

Once saw an article about niche jobs and there was a woman whose job was painting artificial eyeballs to match your other eye.

NC

For a while I was considered an expert on a very specific area of humanitarian surgery. (Not quite “shrapnel injuries to the right big toe in people with Purple Scarf Syndrome”, but along those lines. Which is pretty niche.

Nowadays it’s largely irrelevant as all the information is in the public domain and widely disseminated and all sorts of people have done more research and clinical practice has changed, exactly as it should 😊.

I think what was key to it being niche though as a couple of others have mentioned was the overlap between seemingly completely unrelated things. Easy to work in silos, so lots of experts in Purple Scarves and lots of experts in big toes but no overlap.

I wouldn't personally use the term to describe irreplaceable at all (in fact I've never heard it used that way) but as a job with a specificity that makes it a side road in an industry.

I can see it being used on here to describe why you are being vague about things to prevent being identified.

I used to do a job that was not well paid at all but there were specific about the role that anyone in the same industry would be able to narrow me down to about 10 people in the country. Yes anyone could do the job but not many people did. I ran a unit for a specific group of people that there were very few in the country in the same setup so it was niche. It was also very much the sort of role that I would not have wanted do be identified and it would have been a problem for the service as well. I don't remember calling it niche but I may have.

Seriously not well paid for what it was but extremely interesting.

@Level32

that's interesting I did not know about the African mole rats, they sound as if they could be quite big?

also I get why your friend has got a degree in botany of Ferns and mossas,
they are ancient plants and are incredibly hardy,growing sometimes in weird places such as cracks on walls,
I also think how weird/amazing nature is at times that they can survive and thrive in places/envoriments that appear/seem at first glance, to be inhospitable ect.
I find botany/herbalism fascinating subjects.

Bee DNA ,field of research is another quiky Niche one too,
Just curious why has there been research into Bee DNA ,in the first place?
what is so tantalising intriguing about this then?

@Cynara

Sounds very intriguing 😕

What does GC views means then?
Or
Is it far too outing of your former Profession then?

I think a lot of jobs are 'niche' if you describe them specifically enough.

DP is a doctor. There are thousands of doctors in the UK so I have no worries saying that on MN. However she works in a very small specialty dealt with at only a few hospitals in the country. I wouldn't post details of her specialty on here as others in it could probably work out who she is.

Similar applies to a lot of jobs mentioned by PP. A silhouettist is definitely niche, but if one posted on MN, she could say "I work in a niche field, it's outing" or she could say that she's an artist.

What I do specifically is pretty niche - theres maybe 10 other people that do it in the world, and when we need to recruit it is really, really hard as they then take 2-3 years of training to be able to work even with ideal (very specific) experience and qualifications. I could work outside this area, but someone in a closely related job would struggle.
DH also has a niche role, which is an 'overlapping fields' one. He personally knows all the other people in the country who can do what he does, and you can count them on one hand