Professions for Alias — a word set

From baker to programmer. Lands especially well at work parties.

A set of jobs: classic ones, modern ones, and the ones everybody has heard of but few can explain on the first try. It works as a game and, unexpectedly, as a good conversation about what people actually do all day.

What makes this set interesting

A profession is almost always explained through an action — and that is where you discover how vaguely we picture some of them. "Notary" and "auditor" produce a pause every time, because there is no clear image behind them. Which makes this the ideal work-party set: colleagues laughing at each other's descriptions of jobs.

Who this set is for

Office parties, reunions, and any group where people work in different fields. The set has a side effect: it usually leads to half an hour of everyone explaining what they actually do all day. For a group that has only just met, that is arguably better than the game itself.

Baker

Works through the place: “works where it smells of bread.” The answer lands in a second. Does not work: “a person who bakes” — bake shares a root with baker, so the word burns on the rules even though the team already understood it.

Notary

Works through an object: “you go to them when a document needs a stamp.” Does not work: “a lawyer who certifies documents” — the room will say solicitor, lawyer and judge. There is no clear picture behind this word, so it needs a concrete object or situation.

Auditor

Works through the dread: “arrives at the company and the accounts department stops sleeping for a week.” Does not work: “checks financial statements” — far too close to inspector and examiner, and the room will work through those until the round ends.

Where groups go wrong

Half these job titles share a root with the action: a baker bakes, a builder builds, a teacher teaches. So the most natural phrasing turns out to be the forbidden one, and the player loses the word on the opening sentence. Come at it through the workplace, the tool or the document instead. The second trap is explaining rare professions the way a careers guide would: “a specialist in…” gives the room nothing. The third is avoiding stereotypes — admirable in life, but in this game the stereotype is the shortest route to the answer.

Start from the workplace: "he works where it smells of bread" and the baker lands in a second.
For rare jobs, name the tool or the document the person deals with.
Do not avoid stereotypes — in a game they are the shortest path to the answer.

Easy

Familiar words that land on the first clue. For warming up, for kids and for mixed groups.

doctor, nurse, teacher, nanny, cook, baker, driver, pilot, sailor, fisherman, farmer, shepherd, gardener, forester, carpenter, joiner, mason, painter, electrician, plumber, mechanic, locksmith, seamstress, tailor, barber, seller, cashier, courier, postman, guard, policeman, firefighter, lifeguard, judge, lawyer, accountant, banker, journalist, photographer, programmer, designer, architect, engineer, scientist, translator, musician, dancer, artist, actor, singer, writer, poet, athlete, coach, referee, builder, miner, metalworker, welder, turner, blacksmith, watchmaker, cobbler, furrier, potter, beekeeper, vet, dentist, pharmacist, librarian, curator, guide, waiter, bartender, cleaner, janitor, loader, storekeeper, dispatcher, conductor, engineerdriver, stewardess, astronaut, soldier, borderguard, investigator, detective, notary, auditor, manager, secretary, administrator, operator, fitter, adjuster, worker, foreman, director, chef, shoemaker

Medium

Takes a few sentences and some imagination. The default setting for an ordinary evening.

agronomist, zootechnician, ichthyologist, ornithologist, entomologist, geologist, geographer, cartographer, meteorologist, seismologist, astronomer, physicist, chemist, biologist, geneticist, microbiologist, epidemiologist, surgeon, therapist, paediatrician, optician, laryngologist, cardiologist, neurologist, psychiatrist, psychologist, speechtherapist, physiotherapist, masseur, dietician, trainer, umpire, commentator, filmdirector, producer, screenwriter, cameraman, soundengineer, editor, makeupartist, costumier, decorator, propmaster, gaffer, stuntman, composer, arranger, tuner, violinist, pianist, organist, choirmaster, balletmaster, choreographer, arthistorian, restorer, archaeologist, historian, anthropologist, ethnographer, philologist, linguist, redactor, proofreader, typesetter, printer, bookbinder, illustrator, animator, topographer, surveyor, valuer, realtor, appraiser, insurer, broker, trader, logistician, customsofficer, inspector, counsel, prosecutor, interrogator, criminalist, dogtrainer, diver, climber, geodesist, driller, craneoperator, excavator, tractorist, combiner, milker, agrotechnician, hydrotechnician, energyengineer, radiotechnician, stenographer, audiologist

Hard

Rare or abstract words. More failed rounds, and more laughing at them.

actuary, andragogue, crisismanager, apitherapist, arbitrator, areologist, archivist, bacteriologist, ballistician, bibliographer, bioengineer, cooper, botanist, brandanalyst, roller, vexillologist, venereologist, verticalist, glazier, electroplater, haematologist, gemmologist, herbalist, hydrologist, glaciologist, engraver, graphologist, dendrologist, defectologist, dosimetrist, typographer, examiner, ecoauditor, econometrician, embryologist, oenologist, ergonomist, occupationaltherapist, ethologist, insulator, iconographer, immunologist, collector, inlayer, ichthyopathologist, calligrapher, cartelist, ceramographer, filmmaker, kinesiologist, combustiologist, conchologist, cosmologist, localhistorian, crystallographer, xylographer, blender, laboratorian, lexicographer, founder, limnologist, lithographer, puppeteer, maltologist, mineSurveyor, memoirist, metallographer, metrologist, mycologist, mosaicist, nanotechnologist, numismatist, oceanologist, orthoepist, palaeontologist, perfumer, patentexpert, pedologist, petrographer, pyrotechnician, polarexplorer, powderman, assayer, conservator, sommelier, speleologist, sphragist, taxidermist, heatengineer, teataster, typhlopedagogue, topiarist, phalerist, philatelist, phytopathologist, fumigator, acarologist, barographer, bryologist, volcanologist