Star Trek: 10 Starfleet Jobs You Won't Believe Exist

2. Button Presser

One of the many issues that faced the department heads on the USS Voyager when it was stranded in the Delta Quadrant was what to do with crewmembers who didn't suit particular roles. No one could be transferred off the ship, as there was nowhere for them to go. Therefore, seemingly menial tasks ended up crewed by seriously over-qualified officers.

One such crewman was Mortimer Harren. He was only aboard the ship as he needed one year of practical experience before he could apply to the Institute of Cosmology on Orion 1. Unluckily for him, the Voyager was whisked away by the Caretaker. He was belligerent and often simply didn't do the tasks assigned to him, leading Lt. Torres to assign him to plasma relay control.

His entire set of duties involved pushing a button and shunting more or less plasma when needed. As Seven of Nine correctly spotted, this was gross underuse of his abilities, though Torres defended her reasoning for the assignment.

While the task was a necessary one, it was an unfortunate case of having a crewman stuck at the very bottom of the ship, reading and working on new theorems, occasionally pushing yes or no. Thankfully, the events of Good Shepperd got the man out and interacting with the crew again.