Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

Examples of "niche" jobs

340 replies

Poptart4 · 07/03/2021 12:56

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 Hmm

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

OP posts:
thosetalesofunexpected · 07/03/2021 16:56

@Clariana

What sort of role or roles does your job entail then?

I can see why op did a post thread on this subject as Niche Jobs, often seem quite mysterious and intriguing ect.

Would it be far too outing of the kind of job ect, you do if you revealed anything more then?

Cynara · 07/03/2021 16:58

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ClarkeGriffin · 07/03/2021 17:05

@FTEngineerM

Someone writes the code for a dash cam/mobile phone app to complete a task.

I come along and check it’s functioning as intended, if it fails I find the piece of code at the point of failure and then submit and they start again.

I’m also learning about how to automate the testing.

I’d say that was pretty niche?

It's not. That's a software tester job, loads of them around.
Clariana · 07/03/2021 17:06

@thosetalesofunexpected

It is a job in a legal field that is very specific and requires significant experience of the industry it deals with as well. So I suppose overlapping in a way.

ghostyslovesheets · 07/03/2021 17:07

my job is niche - identifiable if I was to go into detail - I am not aware of anyone who does this role the way I do except my colleague

idontlikealdi · 07/03/2021 17:09

My job is very niche, its a pain in the arse because options to move are rather limited.

sunflowersandbuttercups · 07/03/2021 17:09

I suspect there are quite a few specific roles out there, but you can always describe them via industry if you don't want to out yourself.

thosetalesofunexpected · 07/03/2021 17:09

@TheOrigRights

What "organism was it that you did so much forcus /Research on then?
Why was it such a niche subject for research that so few people were involved in this?

What ways does your kind of research, makes it beneficial in our modern society? 😕

I am just intrigued or is that too outing to give any more tantalising clue/s then?

Ifixfastjets · 07/03/2021 17:10

My job is fairly niche.
If you ask me, I am a mechanic.
Or vehicle technician.
Or even an engineer.
But my vehicles fly. Fast.
We are a small team, the only one in Europe (and I think the USA).
In fact, most of the english speaking world send us their broken bits to fix.

I am replaceable, but it would cost a lot of time and money to train my replacement.

RedGoldAndGreene · 07/03/2021 17:13

I always think of this meme

Examples of "niche" jobs
Sewfrickinamazeballs · 07/03/2021 17:13

I have a very niche job. I am a scientist I work in the agrochemical industry, specialising in weed resistance. I’m a team of 4 working in industry. No one else in the country does my job.

TH22 · 07/03/2021 17:14

I know someone who works in bat conservation! Her job is to go in to old buildings and do a bat assessment (there will be significantly more to it than that lol). Naturally she is called Bat Woman. Seems pretty Niche to me!

trappedsincesundaymorn · 07/03/2021 17:14

My SiL is head of the bird and small mammal sections at a zoo. DD is assistant keeper in the reptile and sea life centre at the same place. I expect they could be replaced...if you're into rats and snakes.

thosetalesofunexpected · 07/03/2021 17:15

@Cynara

What does FWR boards mean then in relation to " Critical Gendar"?

ps thanks for replying back.

Palavah · 07/03/2021 17:16

It's all relative: being an MP is niche in the sense that there are only a few hundred of them in the country. But plenty of people could do it/ want to.

Being a clerk in the House of Commons requires niche knowledge and experience, there are even fewer of them, but they are civil servants at the end of the day.
Both are required to work in London.

Referring to your job as niche is only necessary if you are describing a problem at work or explaining why you can't move overseas with your partner's job, etc. Otherwise you say 'civil servant' or 'artist' or 'engineer' or whatever.

thosetalesofunexpected · 07/03/2021 17:25

@weightedblanketlove

What does the term "HCP" mean then?😕

And why so few of them or is this far too outing then?

FireflyRainbow · 07/03/2021 17:27

I always imagine they knit waistcoats for cats or something random.

Pennethorne · 07/03/2021 17:27

@FTEngineerM

Someone writes the code for a dash cam/mobile phone app to complete a task.

I come along and check it’s functioning as intended, if it fails I find the piece of code at the point of failure and then submit and they start again.

I’m also learning about how to automate the testing.

I’d say that was pretty niche?

Not really, you're a QA.

Just like all the other thousands of QAs.

Wherearemymarbles · 07/03/2021 17:29

A good friend is a saturation diver.

On paper its something a lot of people could do - construction work but under water
In reality it is a tough job that very few people have the physical and mental aptitude for, hence the pay.

I work in a small area of shipping and there are only around 100 people world wide that do what I do in my sector. Given some time I could name all of them!

macaronirabbit · 07/03/2021 17:33

I do a fairly unusual job - think along the lines of the Repair Shop on BBC. I trained for 5 years to do it but the pay is shit! (i earn about the same as an NQT) Luckily I really like it!

ThrowingAShellstrop · 07/03/2021 17:41

I do a very unusual job most people don’t realise exists. There’s not very many people in the UK that do it to the level I do and when there are vacancies, they are very competitive. It’s in a very particular part of healthcare science. I’d say it’s niche for sure as you need to be a certain type of person with a certain skill set to train for it.

RedMarauder · 07/03/2021 17:44

@FTEngineerM

Someone writes the code for a dash cam/mobile phone app to complete a task.

I come along and check it’s functioning as intended, if it fails I find the piece of code at the point of failure and then submit and they start again.

I’m also learning about how to automate the testing.

I’d say that was pretty niche?

You are a software tester/QA so your skills aren't niche. What is probably niche is the projects you work on.

I've done a couple of niche roles in IT but it's normally because I'm one of the first who does a specific role for a company. 5 years later the specific role isn't niche as more companies realise they need people doing it.

elbowpads · 07/03/2021 18:02

I have a niche job but with transferable skills. I work in a specific area of healthcare which most hospitals don't have - they would transfer their patients elsewhere. And I'm not a doctor or nurse. So let's say there are 20 hospitals who provide this service and there will only be one or two people doing my job in each one and some will be at my level, some will be lower. That means a rough maximum of forty of us in the UK and only about 25 at my level and with my job title and banding etc.
I am a registered professional so i could be traced via our professional body, found on hospital websites and narrowed down by male/ female etc.
But there are thousands of people who do my job in different specialties, almost 100 of us in my trust alone, plus loads more who do it in primary care, so although my job is niche it would depend if I have the general title or if my actual specialty was relevant.
And I have name changed for this just in case!

MingeofDeath · 07/03/2021 18:07

I used to know a chicken chaser.

VivaLeBeaver · 07/03/2021 18:09

@MingeofDeath

I used to know a chicken chaser.
I met a chicken sexer once.