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 used to know a badger tamer. I don't think that's his official job title. He would infiltrate badger colonies until they accepted him as one of their own, then show them the special badger tunnels under a new road / bypass so they could cross to the other side without being run over.

Buggered if I know. It's all niche jobs earning 6 figures and outing hobbies for the menfolk.

I didn't know quiky animal welfare Niche jobs like this even existed !

that's one of the main, many reasons i like browsing on mumsnet thread posts.

Its quite interesting/very interesting at times on here.

NC for this just incase outing! I don’t really have niche job as such but if I was talking about it on mumsnet I think I would describe it as niche just because you don’t really hear of a lot of people who do it. I’m a fashion buyer. All entry level jobs require a degree in fashion buying and/or experience. I’ve never met another fashion buyer in real life outside of the work setting and because you literally need that one particular degree I guess I’d say it was niche if I was talking about it even though a lot of people do it?

@Wherearemymarbles

I did not know there was such a thing /a job/a skill as doing construction under water, with all the hazards that can potential entail such as rip tides/(whirl pools) tanker ships oils spills disaster, underwater predators sharks etc.

No wonder your friend is paid so much .

And obviously its bound to be that harder working under the pressure the force of the sea.

So although the industry is not niche (pharmaceuticals), you can get quite specialised in a very narrow area meaning there just aren't that many people doing that exact job role / have that specific experience. I suspect most professional jobs are like this. Not sure that's exactly niche though. It's not like most people are incapable intellectually of doing my job, just that it takes a good 10 years to get decent at it and not that many people do.

I CBA to namechange but I work in a large industry (1000s of people), but within that each company only has one, or max two, of 'me'. So no more than 50 of us in the UK. I often think that's why people are cagey- you'd be able to ID me pretty quickly from (specifc) job role + posting history + LinkedIn. I have a colleague who is literally the only person with their job role in the whole of the country, like being CMO for England or something. That's niche, and again v identifiable. It pays well because it's niche, not because it's the most difficult or stressful job. Or it could be all these people are liars

I know someone whose job is sculpting Neanderthal figures for museum displays. That niche enough for you?

@Carolina24

No idea. I’m a lawyer. Not remotely niche, many people could do it!

There are niche areas of law though- particularly in certain patents and other areas that require a certain depth of mathematical and/or scientific knowledge science.

@LittlestBoho

I used to know a badger tamer. I don't think that's his official job title. He would infiltrate badger colonies until they accepted him as one of their own, then show them the special badger tunnels under a new road / bypass so they could cross to the other side without being run over.

Is this real? 😂

My cousin is a fashion buyer. AFAIK. She has a distance/home-learning degree (hard earnt). Seem to be lots of fashion buyers in our country. I wouldn't have thought that was niche.

My friend (biology degrees) is a games producer (multi-player role playing etc. types computer games). If you play games she has worked on, she's a very Big Cheese. It sounds niche but seems like there are plenty of jobs around the world like it, too. My cousin (chemistry degrees) was involved with cheetah breeding programmes for long period. But she got to clean out their cages & do talks to public etc. too. Not esp. well paid niche jobs.

I have a niche job in the sense that there’s one company in the country that does the thing my company does, and I’m the only person in the company who does a specific activity.

It doesn’t mean there aren’t others who have the skills, and there’ll be plenty who are able to replace me when I go.

It’s just niche in the sense that nobody else in the country does it.

@lljkk absolutely wouldn’t describe it as niche in day to day life. However if I had a work problem that I wanted advice about on here and was asked what my job was, I would probably be one of those people who says ‘I don’t want to say as too outing’ because how many other fashion buyers could there be with my industry problem on mumsnet?

I think there’s niche jobs in the sense where they really are niche and hardly anyone does them and then niche in the terms that people use on here as in could potentially be outing and it’s not a job you hear about daily.

Scientists specialise in all kinds of wonderful things.

My job title is quite common in the food supply chain but my company is one of only a few in the country who specialises in our products so in that sense my knowledge is niche.

I watched a BBC short documentary on the people who make pointe shoes for the Royal Ballet - that seemed very niche!

I work for the council, there is only one of my role in each council across the country so 170ish people do the same job as me.... there is equivalent number of people that do the job above me and probably about 400 people that do the job below me in the country.... I think when you say 170 people in the country it actually sounds niche but there are so many more that COULD do it, just not the roles available. I would never describe it as niche though, ever.

I think a lot of jobs are quite niche really. That doesn't mean someone else couldn't do them, but most jobs I've don't required some pretty specific training and experience to really get to grips with them.

So, I'm a mental health nurse, which is not at all niche. But, to find a nurse with my level of clinical specialism in working with young offenders is much rarer. And to find a nurse with that and who is also a qualified family therapist, EMDR therapist and Trauma Focused CBT therapist is very unusual. And to find a nurse who does all that and is also a published researcher is even rarer. So I'm a niche professional who it would be hard to replace.

But none of the bits of my job couldn't be done by someone else. It's the combination that's unusual.

Last time I was job hunting there was one role advertised around for ages. It required several years experience in a specific type of financial instrument along with fluent Japanese and Arabic.

My job is niche I think. I work for a big organisation in the UK (although there are offices all over the world) and I am the only person who does my job in the country. And the world actually! I teach people how to do a particular task and although lots of people can do the task, I am the only person who teaches them. I have had to travel abroad for work.

DH used to have the fairly niche job of civilian Bomb disposal. There are 2/3 uk based companies offering this service, obviously they employ ex-military with Bonb disposal experience. Lots of construction sites need checking for WW2 bombs, especially in London and port cities.
DH spent a year near Stonehenge, coming home at weekends,
working on an old Army base that had WW1 practice trenches,

Not massively well paid unless you are an ex-Navy diver, that’s where the big money is,
usually working abroad during the summer.

I used to work on a project studying a specific invertebrate in the rivers in a small, underpopulated part of the country, that was pretty niche.

I have a role in a public sector organisation where there is only ever one person who has that role per organisation. So there are about 350 people doing the same job as me across the country.

@VeganVeal

Before we met DH was offered a job as a condom tester, but didnt take it as you had to work a week in hand

Are you sure it was the week that he had to have in hand?

I'm in Ireland so small country anyway (very common to know people in common if you don't know the person directly), but I would say the following industries- very few working in them and they would know each other:

Pathologists
Air traffic controllers
Public health

We have discussed this. At a dinner party a long time ago. No one I know, nor Dh, nor anyone I know, knows anyone, anyone at ALL with a niche job. So say between me and my closest friends. Anyone they know, at all, and have met, even acquaintances, anyone. 20,000 people. No one knows anyone with a niche job.

So. I call bullshit.