It's usually a safe question to ask. 99% of the time it'll lead to a safe answer that helps to build trust.

I would ask because that tells me a bit about her interests, her mind. I like to know the mind. I don’t feel that it is an offensive question.

You said women could comment, so I will! For my part, it isn't a deciding factor ( there's always exceptions) but rather just a general foray into their mindset, priorities, lifestyle, etc. Just one more way to figure out what kind of person you are.
I tried to find the clip, maybe someone else can, but it's Red Forman at a party where he's asked "so what do you do?" Red's reply; "about what?" Perfect answer!

Just talk . Not two many questions . That is what talk to someone is . It is not man perspective .

I don't remember ever doing that. Sometimes it doesn't even come up in our first conversation. It will eventually come up in a conversation.

It can tell if a person is educated, a hard worker (ie construction/farming) compatibility off jobs too, so let's say Jane Doe works steady midnights and John Black Works only weekends and that's the time that she has off that would suck. Reason like that is why so many have said just curious.

I’d say it was because it’s what someone spends 1/3 of their life doing? And often ties into their passions, ambitions and interests? Sometimes it’s a career they love and is an important part of their self image,other times it’s ‘just a job’ and hen the next question is of course what they would love to be doing- what are their dreams?

I’ve never seen it as a negative question or stereotype. I’d happily go on a date with someone from a totally different field to me and learn all about something new.

I've stopped doing that as I feel it doesn't necessarily give an accurate picture as to a woman's personality. I'd much rather know what she does in her spare time in order to get to know her better.

It is a non threatening way to find out more about a person. It adds to the quiver of things to talk about, and unless you are truly embarrassed by what you so for a living, this is information that anyone that knows you should have an idea about. If you believe that people ask it for stereotyping, that sounds like projection. Stop looking for deep meaning in early conversation, it normally isn't there. This is a common human desire to know more about people around us.

I would think it is just a quick way to see if you have something that takes up a lot of your time in common, nothing more sinister. If I worked in the medical field and I find out you do too, we suddenly have a whole lot to talk about. Maiasaura below who gets asshole comments on her job would have probably gotten asshole responses to whatever topic was brought up! I was never ashamed to say what I did for a living and it never occurred to me that the person was trying to scope out my earning potential. Maybe I was wrong. If you do something interesting, I want to know more, and it can lead into your other interests.

When you meet someone new and are attracted to her, its normal to be nervous and hence difficult to think of conversation starters. Since you spend about a third of your waking hours at work, its an easy topic to talk about. When a group of guys are talking, the most common topics are work and sports. So it stands to reason that when talking to women, they will gravitate to the one that they think has the most common ground.

It's just rude to ask. Don't do it.

I'm a woman but maybe if I were a man I'd want to know if she's a co-dependent bum type. Some women still have their brains in 1952 and if I were a man I don't think I'd be interested in supporting a grown adult as though they were a child. I wouldnt be interested in a stay-at-home wife. Also, it seems lately that these types usually use pregnancy to get out of actual employment and still expect a high fallutin lifestyle. If I were a man? Hell to the NAW.

I think it's about getting a base to work from rather than going into the heady arena of emotions! It does open the way for further questions; Do you live to work or work to live? Are you following your dreams? Do you think you are part of the system? Etc

I, for one, recognize profession as the tip of the iceberg when learning about an individual. If I were to discover someone who has a career rather than just a job, that is rare and fascinating to me.
But to apply a mosaic of stereotypes based on profession, culture, race, religion or political bias is to miss the point of asking questions in the first place. IMHO.

I would ask women that question too, but not first. I am more interested in who they are as a person than what they do, although I realize there can be a link between the two. It will come up anyway, sooner or later, but getting to know a person in other ways is much more fascinating.

It is an icebreaker, I get asked this by both men and women (I am male) and am just as apt to ask it of males as females. Typically anymore at my stage in life I already know what someone does for a living when we start talking, though.

I think of it as a general curiosity. For many people, their work lives are either part of who they are, or just a job. Either way, by asking about their line of work, you learn a lot about a person in their response.

My 2 cents, as always.

I am under the impression this is often attributed to Americans, as we culturally seem to place higher immediate value on income and social standing derived from profession.

It opens the door for more questions.
I use it as a gage. It can show a lot of the woman's personality. Depending on the follow up questions it allows one to dig into her personality.
To see how her ego is and gives a glimpse of her of lifestyle.

I always ask because so much of our time is devoted to earning a living. It would be worse if I asked 'How much do you earn?'

Depends on who is asking and why. It could be innocent in just making conversation and or a way to get to know the other person. What someone does certainly provides some information about who they are.

For most people, most of their waking lives is spent at work. And like it or not, your job says a lot about your social status, your values and possibly your expectations. I know women who are Engineers, Doctors and Scientists. I would find these women more interesting than a waitress. What if her occupation is topless dancer? Many of them are outright prostitutes. That comes with baggage I would never want to deal with.

I think is almost basic to know what. the person you are trying to meet, does for a leaving.. I am not talking about any random person .. but someone you are interested in, and you want to get to know him better.

I ask because I'm curious about how a person spends their day. Work is such a huge part of our lives, and asking where, or for whom, they work allows a peek into that slice if time. It also might provide fodder for additional questions, if it's an interesting or unusual career/job.