I’m sure this one has been done before, but search is broken, so …
I got to thinking:
Superman - fast, strong, heat-beam eyes - why is he wasting his time as a reporter? If he went to a career counsellor, I’m sure they’d recommend he take a job in: High Rise Construction.
The Flash - fast, not much else. Clearly destined for a lifetime as a parcel courier.
Some superpowers though, just don’t lend themselves to anything but fighting super-powered bad guys.
Criteria: Jobs must not be sports, law-enforcement, or involve dishonest use of the superpowers. (This includes rigging games of chance, as well as out-and-out lawbreaking).
What mundane roles can we cast superheroes in?
Spiderman? The invisible woman? ShadowCat? NightStalker?
Spiderman already is a cameraman, and his abilities are well-suited to this, IMO. He’s flexible, strong, and can climb walls, so he can do a lot of things to get a shot that nobody else could take.
Nightcrawler: with his ability to teleport, he seems perfect for rescuing people from mineshafts and other areas blocked to other people. He has to see where he’s going, but snaking a camera through rubble or whatever is probably easier than getting people through. Also, in many cases we can see the victims, just not get to them.
I don’t think Superman’s skills are best used in construction. I think more building inspection. Super x-ray vision and superhearing would let him see faults in construction or hear acoustically if something has been assembled improperly (I’m thinking ductwork) or was experiencing inappropriate stresses, etc.
Spiderman would be an amazing window washer for extremely tall buildings.
My knowledge of the strength of Wolverine’s claws is limited, but from their looks, the obvious work for him would be landscaping. He could do amazing topiary hedge design, like Edward Scissorhands.
Wonder Woman knows how to fly a plane, albeit an invisible one, so she obviously needs to get her licensing in order and into a job as a pilot.
I think Spidermans missed calling is in pest control, he’d be a veritable Pied Piper for unwanted spiders, and way more effective than ultrasound/RF/electricity in repelling anything that spiders prey on.
The Invisible Woman : Journalism. Or paparazzi. Invisibility would let her get great shots & recordings.
Wonder Man worked as a stuntman, and at least once as a living dummy for body armor testing IIRC.
Superman : Diamond manufacturing.
Storm : Weather control is directly applicable for things like farming. Or guaranteeing good weather for sporting events, say. And then when she’s wealthy she can stomp some of the X-Men’s enemies economically.
Superman – X-ray vision, super-hearing, ability to recognize lies by listening to speakers heartbeat/respiration – seems like he’d have a real advantage as a reporter. Which he is (or Clark Kent is).
Olympic coach. “Bend, and twist and flying moon kick and somersault and judo chop and down!” But, Mr. Grayson, who are we kicking?" “Doesn’t matter. That’s how I learned it, so that’s how you’re gonna learn it!”