None of the main characters in my eleven (so far) published books have the same occupation. While they vary widely, I never choose a job that is too technical in nature, because the research required would be too cumbersome and easily prone to error. So, I'm not going to make someone a molecular biologist.
It's easy, though, to overlook the research required to write about even a semi-skilled occupation. It's simple to choose a main character's job, but as I'm writing, so many questions about that job arise, and I realize how little I know ~ something as simple as "What's that thing called?" I've had to look up a lot of those "things".
I've had a few different jobs in my life, but most of them were boring (to me) and not ripe for storytelling. Occasionally I've used some aspects of those jobs in my novels; the closest match being "New Kaitlyn", in which the main character works in the health insurance field. Luckily, that wasn't the most important aspect of the story or else it would be...zzzzzzzz...
But I did use an anecdote I heard once for the basis of The Apple. A group of people had scammed my insurance company by creating a physician account and submitting fake claims for payment. Eventually they got caught. Did the main character in The Apple get caught, too? I don't know ~ read it to find out. I'm done giving away my stories. In her everyday life, the main character worked as an RN. I'd spent eight years working on the nursing floor of a hospital, so I had some basic knowledge of a nurse's job, but a lot of it was outdated.
A couple of the MC's in my books work as waitresses. One would think very little research would be required for that. Wrong. Little incidental things were foreign to me, such as, "What's that circular case that displays slices of pie called?" (I looked it up, but I've already forgotten.) This happens in every one of my books. In Shadow Song the main character is a portrait painter. The tools of the trade are...? I didn't even know the medium that's painted on. Canvas? Worse, in that novel the main character doubles as a carnival ride operator. That is rather a niche topic, I found when researching.
Don't even get me started on renovating. My Inn Dreams protagonist sets out to remodel an old motel, and in the beginning she only owns a hammer. I had to learn about tearing out carpet and how to refinish hardwood floors. Also DIY methods for painting old furniture. And I know far too much about the workings of pylon signs.
So far, my main characters have also included paralegals, storekeepers, bakers, disc jockeys, and now singers. For Second Chance (featuring the singer) I currently have eighteen articles bookmarked, and music is something I'm familiar with!
Research is also required when an author invents a scenario, but doesn't know if it'll work. I needed to know if there was a way for a singer to get out of a recording contract without being in breach. Had I not been able to confirm that through research, the idea would have been unusable.
I actually like researching, within reason. Sometimes I get so involved in it, I lose the thread of the scene I'm writing, but I've gained a lot of knowledge I'll never use again. Giving each new main character a different occupation adds a bit of interest (for me, that is). It's a little side benefit of creating a story.
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