Christine Abalest (Miss Fulcrum) is a socialite. She hasn't considered getting a job yet, but pursues an education in arcane arts and economics; she plays the stock and futures markets to earn money, though she's the beneficiary of a rather impressive trust fund...
Dark Soul Golem doesn't have a job that pays in coin... It is driven to absolve the sins of all its souls so that it may enter heaven when it is destroyed. It used to be a guardian for the Abalest family, but after achieving sentience during the defense of the Abalest estate during the Rikti war, it has been allowed to pursue its goal.
Power Drain was a maid for the Abalest family before the war, and now is trying to find a job where she can earn enough to repay the Abalests for a generator she overloaded while looking for a midnight snack. She's tried to work at City of Gyros but kept tripping the breakers when she got hungry, She's just gotten fired from Paragon SWAT because she didn't follow tactical orders well, and got distracted from a target by a substation. She's been banned from entering Terra Volta after that fiasco, and now scrapes together what she can by taking funding off the villians she defeats and going after power sources in villian bases.
Eric Unterwald, 'The Claims Adjuster', is a claims adjuster for Highlife insurance.
Al Cornpone doesn't need a job, as it is a genetically-engineered humanoid ear of corn.
My Motto: "Debt is merely another Goal."
"Wow Abalest--you manage to start a discussion even when you ain't given a topic" -Ghostman
Abalests on Infinity:
Miss Fulcrum
Dark Soul Golem
Power Drain
Well... I only really play one dude, so here goes...;
Experiment 2.0: Spines/DA scrapper was a mutant, and has been like that since he was about 9, when he killed a kid and was put into a school for mutant's... Unfortuanatly, it was raided by Crey, and they said that it was commiting illegal acts... note, this was not in Paragon. Experiment AKA: John Ballard escaped very barely, and walked all the way to Paragon, sleeping in trash can's on the way. He lived there for a few years, then he finally made the Paragon City Bugle, and became the Editor. He hired known superheroes, but noone knew that the heroes worked there, as they were all in their secret Identities. He moved into the Whitemoore, and has lived there ever since... but something has been making him sick since he left the Terra Volta reactor explosion. Some think it might be his second mutation.
Yeah yeah, I know it was long winded, but he is kind of the only guy I play.
hottshot,a fire blaster lives in steel canyon,living off his money made from fighting crime for the goverment.He is looking for a roomate and a partner to open up his own restraunt,and yes that was him in the Pandoras box commercial! 
I have a character on the Champion server named Lanzador, who is a mercenary. Although he charges "heroes" Influence to work with/team up with them, when he isn't in Paragon City he's earning a mercenary's wages working as a drug enforcement consultant and counterterrorism specialist for the DEA and CIA.
His personal life is somewhat lacking, but he makes enough money to keep his armor repaired and technological devices in a state-of-the-art condition.
Well, I play two characters, one has no apreciation for money being a Goddesses Right Hand (Nishnumbur from Sumerian Myth).
The other is retired military. He is working as a full time employee for a city hired contractor, aquiring water samples, tissue samples, and the like needed for research. Between his stipend and retirement check he makes enough to pay the bills, pay for school (non-traditional student) and donate a small amount of money each month to the Baumtown reconstruction fund.
Well, Pangea is a living rock infused with lava and magma (i.e. hot stuff on the inside and outside of his body), so he, uh, doesn't really have a secret identity. He tends to live in the shadows, hides under bridges, and makes ample use of inflammable shelters. Basically, interrogating villains in his effort to find the magic or sorcerer who created him is his only job. Otherwise, he hides.
Bijan works as a translater for ancient middle-eastern texts (seeing as thats the time hes from).
Jim Hall managed to get a job working as a human barometer, with the gauge and transponder attached to his belt. Flying is great and all but hey you gotta pay the bills.
MindMaster is actually a teenage boy who works at a comic book store. He doesn't even know that he's really a superhero, his powers manifesting themselves subconsciously in a psionic manisfestation elsewhere.
Trollkin Hacker is an ex-gang member [guess his old gang!] who has dedicated himself to wiping out the Skulls, Trolls, Family, and anyone else related with Superadine. He cares not for a job, and probably wouldn't be hired at most places anyway.
Lytus isn't native to this dimension. Where he comes from things are all fighting... fight fight fight fight fight. That's all he's ever known. CoH feels pretty natural to him, but he realizes that there can be more than just combat for him here, and he's curious to explore that.
Spirit Liger is a manga artist, who used to draw a lot of furries, and now chronicles his own adventures [not bothering to hide his identity, since his powers were gained in a very public museum robbery].
Speed Freek lives just outside of the world, in an overlapping Paragon City where everything affects him just the same except for time. Time creeps along at a snails pace to him, which is why he seems so fast to everyone else. A job would be incredibly boring. Only the thrills of combat can really get his heart pumping.
Stateslad works for Crey Industries, a fledgeling hero cloned from the DNA of Statesman in a failed attempt to replace him, therefor superheroing is his job.
My other characters aren't very well fleshed out yet, although one was a scientist before becoming a superhero, I know that much. He created the technology that gave him his powers.
Because of the anti-entropic fields tied to his suit, Starbinder doesn't need to eat or sleep, nor does he age. He doesn't really have any "downtime".
Likewise with Red Machine. He's a robot. Kind of hard to keep a day job.
I picture Shadow Sihing with a tiny studio apartment with a straw mat and a hot plate.
Victor though... Victor lives large. He has a lot of investments and such from his days working for Spain, the Hero Corps, whoever else is willing to pay his (justifiable) expenses. When he's not on a mission he's probably drinking wine while listening to classical music on the balcony of his luxury apartment.
The Cybermage invents various devices and sells them to professional stage magicians. He also does consulting work for several corporate security firms. He would be quite well off if he didn't spend so much money and time on his private scientific experiments.
Mr Gone is a living dream. He doesn't eat or sleep, and his clothing regenerates as fast as the rest of him. His 'profession' is spirit of vengeance. If he happens to stumble across some cash, he gives it anonymously to one of the local orphanages.
Mr Grey lives off his military pension in a crappy little apartment in King's Row. Since his wife and children died, he hasn't had a lot of expenses. He treats heroing as a full time job.
Cheap Jack is a professional bounty hunter. The hero license is just a way to expand his business. He also charges the city for his expenses, counting the cost of every bullet and explosive device.
Atman Ra inherited great wealth. He has no job, though he does take his responsibility to protect the innocent very seriously.
Viktor Radkowicz (Doc Rads) used to be quite well off, but the legal expenses stemming from his campaign on behalf of the "healing power of radiation" have left him nearly destitute. He is barred from practicing medicine in the US, so he spends most of his time working with other heroes in the field, where he is allowed to practice his odd theories. Occasional donations from people he has saved are his only source of income.
Well, let's see....
Prof. Entropy is a Prof. of Ancient History and Archeology at Paragon City University.
Doctor Sol is actually employed by NASA as a mission specialist, and up until recently was assisting Crey Industries with research.
Lyghtspeed is independently wealthy. Having inherited his costume and the source of his powers from his grandfather, he's spending most of his time fighting crime either in Paragon City or his native Chicago.
The Sneak is a homeless person hanging around in King's Row....
I've got so many alts, I haven't had time to figure most of them out yet... 
Dr. North owns a PhD in Psychiatry, in particular he specializes in the psychiatric analysis of superheroes and the unique psychological and psychiatric impact they have on themselves and ordinary citizens.
His published work on the subject has won many accolades and is considered the leading authority on the subject.
He also has started a charity recently, to help kids who want to leave the Freakshow gang and put their lives back on the straight and narrow.
He is currently dedicated to defeating the Freakshow gang and recently liberated 5 city councillors from brutal kidnapping by the Freakshow.
Bryan Gacha, graduate student of justice, has a few patents on life-saving medication. He also has a cancer drug in the works (the one that gave him his powers in an early test run) called Pyromax. He uses the money from these to support himself and pay for graduate studies in Biochemistry.
He has a nice Penthouse apartment in founders, which has an attached tech lab for the creation of his crime-fighting devices.
heh nice topic. Divide, my main, is really Cory Hoffman, and he works part time 4 nights a week as a web designer and also an employee at a Kinkos style office. Decent jobs and hes been able to keep his hero life a secret. though he did have to take a few days off when his eyes suddenly began to emit excess energy from his body. Took him a few days to figure otu how to keep the energy from flowing out.
A couple I didn't mention before:
Mangonelle (Millicent Olivier) is homeless, living in a cobbled-together little squat in Perez Park. She's struggling out of poverty (ooc: she was WLPL'd, and I elected not to dump a bunch of influence on her from my high-level alts...karmic balance for the PL'ing!), but tends to spend her meagre income on "hero stuff" instead of luxuries like shelter. PP isn't everyone's idea of a safe haven for the homeless, but not too many thugs there will relish trying to mug a spine scrapper with a Security Clearance of 18!
Librarian Jane is, to no one's surprise, a librarian. She tends to get in hot water at work for reading tomes on the history of magical villainy instead of shelving books and helping patrons, but the boss knows of the good she does and cuts her some slack.
"And in this moment, I will not run.
It is my place to stand.
We few shall carry hope
Within our bloodied hands."
Hermod is a comidian who wanders around Paragon asking anywhere thats will to pay for him to preform. He's not bad at what he does, but people tend to have problems with comiedians who have to suddenly leave in the middle of there proformance.
Ziu us to work for Crey, Crey is so huge and imploys so many peope that they still pay him. Though he has to go to his old address and pick it up before anyone get to the mail.
Well, it's hard to say when your main isn't from this time period (kicking self for difficult origin). But this is what I came up with.
Destiny Knight meets his living expense through a contract he set up with Exarch Tech shortly after realizing that the time jump had ruined a lot of his powersuit's functions. They pay his rent and food expenses and fix his armor and they get to work with technology that no one has even thought of yet. It's a win-win deal.
As for my alts....
Kinematics works in pizza delivery. He works under his heroic name so that his boss isn't too shocked to see him come back 5 minutes after leaving. He can never figure out how he makes so much in tips. ((Being a Mind Controller with SS would make a terrific pizza delivery guy IMHO. ))
Steven's a freshman in high school, locking down a 3.31 GPA and fighting crime after homework's done. Thanks to the Rikti invasion leaving him without a family, he's had to do a lot of growing up in a hurry. He lives by himself, but uses the mental toughness he had to learn on the streets to keep a disciplined focus on things.
"Your voice holds the key to your society
Expose the ones that want to **** it up for you and me
No more of settling for what they feed
The time has come to put the pressure up against the greed"
- Senser, "Resistance Now"
Rogue Eidolon (Liberty, rad/rad defender) was Regina Van Gelt, the aging socialite widow of a wealthy industrialist. She was dying of untreatable cancer when she heard of a doctor offering immortality & superpowers to anyone with enough money who didnt care how it was done. The result was not what she wanted, and, horrified by Vahziloks methods, she now fights against his type of evil. Although she gave him the bulk of her fortune, she had vast wealth hidden in Swiss accounts, diamonds, offshore trusts, and stock portfolios & real estate held under other names (I dont tell the IRS everything, darling, I wasnt a-BOUT to tell Dr. V!). Apart from condos & beach houses in other cities, she has a 2-floor penthouse on top of one of the gothic buildings in Steel Canyon. The floor below is the Van Gelt Corporation, consisting mostly of her lawyers & financial managers. She is currently buying up large amounts of real estate in Baumton (People are treating it like a punch line! Theyre not thinking long-term. Im immortal now, I have to think long-term
)
Leo Rex (Victory, claw/ref scrapper), born with feline features, was abandoned in a dumpster as an infant and raised by G.I.F.T. Although he receives the hero stipend and has a bed in one of the rooms in the G.I.F.T. office in city hall, he usually mooches food & sleeping space off of other heroes, contacts, & civilians he rescues
or sleeps with them. He spends almost his entire stipend on junk food. Hoping to eventually become a full-fledged FSRB agent, he is studying criminal justice part-time at Paragon University on a mutant scholarship. (I dont feel a need to belong or a fear of sleeping alone because I have abandonment issues. I DONT!)
Toughlove (Guardian, inv/ss tanker) is Dr. Renee Picatti, a biomedical researcher who experimented on herself with a Crey mutagen mistakenly delivered to her lab, growing tall, muscular, busty and super-strong. In addition to her stipend, she makes money from articles, lectures and talk show appearances about superadine, rage, super-steroids and the theories and techniques of Dr. Vahzilok. In addition, she is starting to make money from pinup modeling as well. When the dance club was more accessible, she made some very nice tips as an exotic dancer. She has a condo with a Jacuzzi in Atlas Park.
Fire Efreet (Victory, fire/fire tanker) was summoned by MAGI and bound to defend Paragon City. She lives in one of the torches in front of City Hall. She does not need food or shelter, which is good as she is not getting paid. She is NOT happy.
Doctor Mystery is a psychiatrist by day & a crimefighting sorcerer by night.
Another character is a soldier from the future who lives off the stipend, bounties, and money paid to him by G.E.A.R. whenever he can provide them with future technology & help reverse-engineer it. He lives in a large loft in Kings Row (rent is CHEAP!). I also have a martial artist character from the future who is starting her own dojo for women only. She lives in a studio apartment with little furniture and likes it just fine.
I also have a character who is actually an energy draining monster imported by the government to help control the growing supercriminal population. It cant believe its actually getting paid to feed. It leaves suspects helpless when it drains their emotions, but it doesnt actually kill them. At least, its not SUPPOSED to
Its moved into an abandoned building in Kings Row that it cleared some Hellions out of, and its spending its entire stipend on a sound system and music collection.
Let's see.. Nelphera is a ward of the state, Edahiko works for a pseudo-mercenary hero group, and Karmic Strike is an ex-Malta member, and independantly wealthy.
"If I didn't enjoy the ludicrous mayhem of an 8-person pick-up team and my eventual glorious triumph over seemingly impossible odds bereft of lucid and competant comrades, I would have left this game a long time ago. " - mean_liar
All my characters are full-time heroes, but I can tell you what they did BEFORE they became heroes.
1.) Doctor Nucleus -- former physician, hematologist-oncologist, specifically. Sought a cure for cancer through certain radiation bombardment processes, and accidentally gained staggering new powers to discharge both healing energies and destructive ones (he's an emp/rad defender). I've been toying with the idea of eventually killing him as a result of the radiation infection, but I'm not sure -- he's my favorite character right now. He's also now absolutely dedicated to stopping Dr. Vahzilok, given that he views Vahzilok as having betrayed his oath as a physician.
2.) Lazarus -- has only the vaguest memories of his former life. What he does know is that he was a normal human at one point, who was killed by the Circle of Thorns and turned into a being of darkness in one of their experiments. He despises the Circle for what it did to him and seeks revenge, but also seeks to learn more about his past. Eventually, he'll discover that he was a policeman, learn his former name, and the true reason for the Circle's experiment. He may regain some of his former humanity, but he'll have to reconcile his new, darker urges with his former life. (Dark/Dark defender)
3.) Count Zero -- former hacker. Hacked the Crey Industries database and learned about an interesting procedure involvine nanotechnology fusing with a human subject. He forged himself an ID, waltzed into the facility where the nanite specimen was stored, and managed to get a closer look at it. A MUCH closer look -- which resulted in the nanites fusing with HIM. He's now viewed by Crey as a "rogue experiment" who must be captured, studied, and eventually disposed of when he's outlived his usefulness. For the time being, he's gone underground, but eventually he'll have to tangle with Crey. In the meantime, he has gained surprising new abilities to discharge powerful energy blasts, and use the nanites to rapidly form all manner of gadgets out of trace elements in the air. (energy/devices blaster)
4.) Jacobite -- A former member of the 74th Highlanders, sent over to Paragon City after Hero-1's death as part of a support team sent by the U.K. He's a former soldier who volunteered for an experimental process to develop a more powerful soldier. (Energy/Invulnerable tank)
5.) Blue Kestrel -- a former costumed criminal, actually, who was shamed by the selfless sacrifice he saw from heroes during the Rikti invasion. He went off to Tibet to search his soul for several years, and learned to channel his former evil deeds into negative energy that he expels from his body to form armor or imbue his fists with dark powers. The more he fights, the cleaner his soul gets and the more the burdens of his conscience lift. (Dark/Dark scrapper)
-- EDIT --
By the way, all these guys are on Virtue and are ALWAYS happy to RP with likeminded players. Incidentally, once I get them leveled up enough, be on the lookout for The Black Corsair and Firebrand.
's far as my characters go...
Shin Hat Man - Basically your random guy off the streets. Has a hat. He basically lives in a small apartment and gets his hero license pay because he's a full time hero. Although he's been more prone to arrest thugs in spur-of-the-moment crimes than actual heroism, he still has his license.
Edmund Nergy - Heavily caffenated 9-to-5 government worker. Has an apartment in Founders' Falls.
Nyarlie - Does not really have a job, due to looking quite a whole lot like Lovecraftian creatures. However, he seems to be well-liked by the kids, and thus often makes public service announcements targeted at them.
Golden Durandal - Male french model that models underwear. It is absolutely unknown where he pulls that huge broadsword from.
Well, Let's see, who do we have here....
Corvus Corax: Corvus is more or less a full time hero. She supplements the stipend that she recieves by acting as a consultant to the PCPD in super-powered dealings.
Rock-Hopper: Rock-Hopper has a private practice as a super-hero defense lawyer. Chris Jenkins has caused him no end of grief, and he wants to help other heroes get out of unjustified lawsuits. His success in court, coupled with his stipend, has granted him the liberty to pick-and-choose his clients.
Dark Basilisk: Dark Basilisk earns most of his money as a super-powered bounty hunter. Generally, he'll pick only jobs that go well with his conscience, but occasionally he'll get his hands dirty if he's in financial need.
Infinity Spectre: Well, he's dead... not much chance for a day-job there. He's a full time hero, but spends a lot of time at Paragon University, sitting in on courses- you should learn something if you're stuck here for eternity.
Fel Rose: A demoness, summoned here by a minor cult. The incantation got bollixed up, and she exacted gruesome revenge on the pathetic mortals. She's stuck here now, so she's subsisting (for the moment) on the finances of the former cultists. She signed up to be a hero after learning that there were likely more members in Paragon, and that beinga hero was likely the best way to find them.
Spatial Anomaly: An alien, Spatial Anomaly leeches off of her discoverer, a local researcher, in order to get by. She contributes her stipend to him, so it all balances out in the end...
My story arcs: #2370- Noah Reborn, #18672- The Clockwork War, #31490- Easy Money
Sartre once said, "Hell is other people." What does that make an MMO?
Well, let's see....
Prof. Entropy (DM/DA Scrapper) is a professor of Archeology and Ancient History at Paragon City University. His powers come from the large red jewel in his belt, which is one of the mythical Jewels of the Watchers.
Doctor Sol (Fire/Fire Blaster) is a mission specialist from NASA. His powers were the result of an accident on the shuttle Endeavor involving a solar flare.
Lyghtspeed (Ele/Ele Blaster) is independently wealthy and therefore does not work. He is actually the second person in his family to hold the name Lyghtspeed, the first being his grandfather. Both of them received their powers from another of the Jewels of the Watchers.
Ven-Detta (Emp/Dark Defender) was an early part of Crey Industries' Revenant Project. Deemed a failure due to non-compliance with regulations, he was transferred to a different building and scheduled for disposal, but escaped during the transfer. He currently has no job, only the income supplied by the hero stipend.
CrimsonHawk (NRG/NRG Blaster) is a legal assistant working for some shuyster lawyer (you all know who I'm talking about).
Cayyne (Kin/Rad Defender) is a college student studying Archeology under Prof. Entropy. She is also CrimsonHawk's sister.
I have so many others to work on......
The E-Ternal
Cobalt Moon
Pineal Eye
Ebony Spider
Brother Torch
The Plains-Man
Mr. Psych
Blyzzyrd
Thool
The Postal Clerk
Dragonpit
The Sculpture
Kid Thunder
Cosmosys
Tri-Sulfate
Hellhole
Silent Dancer
Captain Titan
Victor Vector
Composite Y
and on and on and on........
Blood Wolffe was raised by wolves and therefore feels no need to have a job since he can live in the wild. Although he does not quite feel at home with his pack or with humans. Quite a tragic story that developed itself.
Atheum was a fearce warrior who challenged the god of war and lost. He was sent to the underworld and in exchange for his power he got to go back, he is now trying to get his power back to fight his god again. A hollow suit of armour also doesnt need a job.
I guess I dont like work!