Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) is a quintessential member of the Dunder Mifflin workforce in The Office, but his loyalty sometimes sways, and he has many other jobs throughout the sitcom's nine seasons. Dwight is one of the quirkiest characters in The Office, and he's had some of the most engaging storylines in the show, whether it's his on-again, off-again relationship with Angela (Angela Kinsey), his prank-filled feud with Jim (John Krasinski), or his commitment to Michael Scott (Steve Carell). But more than anything else, Dwight takes pride in the fact that he's the best salesperson in the Scranton branch of the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company.
Rainn Wilson has had tons of unique roles throughout his career, but his name will always be synonymous with Dwight, as he made the character iconic, perfectly capturing his weird but dedicated strive for success. The part-time beet farmer even built an empire off of a little poker game. While Dwight is a comic relief character on the show, he's actually extremely intelligent and opportunistic, knowing how to monetize anything from beets to hay. Between his becoming manager of the paper company and leaving to work for a competitor, Dwight has had so many jobs both within and outside of Dunder Mifflin, with varying degrees of success.
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Beet Farmer, Schrute Farms
For the entire nine-season run of The Office, despite him yo-yo-ing up and down management, there has been one stable role in Dwight's life, and that's being a beet farmer. While Dwight hasn't always been a beet farmer, as it's revealed in a deleted scene from season 2, episode 3, "Office Olympics," that he won the farm in a game of poker, it's his true calling in life. There have been more than enough hijinks at Schrute Farms throughout the years, whether it's seeing him as an event manager or as a bed and breakfast host, but the original purpose of the farm, growing beets, has outlasted them all.
Though not much of his farming has been seen through the years, there was a spin-off of The Office planned called The Farm, which would have followed Dwight, his brother, Jeb (Thomas Middleditch), and his sister, Fannie (Majandra Delfino), living together at Schrute Farms. Unfortunately, The Office season 9, episode 17, "The Farm," which would've served as the spin-off's pilot, wasn't well-received. Nevertheless, Dwight has extensively praised the divisive root vegetable, has brought them into the office, and has explained its values at length. Just like running Dunder Mifflin, growing beets seems more like a hobby for Dwight than a job, and he'll probably be growing them long after retirement.
Assistant Regional Manager, Dunder Mifflin
A common debate that occurs in The Office is over whether Dwight's role at Dunder Mifflin (outside of being a salesperson) is Assistant Regional Manager or Assistant to the Regional Manager. Everyone but Dwight agrees that it's Assistant to the Regional Manager, a meaningless title that holds no weight. The Office sees many different regional managers at the Scranton branch, and Dwight is loyal to all of them as an assistant, but he uses this meaningless title to hold power over his coworkers. Many other Dunder Mifflin employees become the Assistant to the Regional Manager, including Jim and Darryl (Craig Robinson), but none care about it more than Dwight.
Though Dwight's title is just a made-up role, in The Office season 2, episode 6, "The Fight," Michael does promote Dwight to Assistant Regional Manager, which comes with no perks and a three-month probationary period. The only duties of the role are picking the staff's healthcare plan and any other jobs that Michael doesn't want to do himself. Dwight loses and earns the role several times over, but when he becomes regional manager (for a second time), he hires himself as Assistant to the Assistant to the Regional Manager in the season 9 two-parter "A.A.R.M." And it's actually the only job he has never been fired from nor quit.
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Salesman, Staples
In The Office season 3, episode 14, "The Return," following the drama with the Stamford branch of Dunder Mifflin, Stamford Regional Manager Josh Porter (Charles Esten) leaves the company for a higher position at Staples. Dwight follows in his stride, only for a much lower position. If it wasn't clear already, Dwight's job at Staples makes it obvious that the character is best kept away from customer-facing roles, as he literally scares customers out of the office supply store. Dwight is quickly rehired at Dunder Mifflin after just a few days in the role, but he wouldn't have lasted much longer anyway if Michael didn't beg him to come back.
Bed & Breakfast Owner, Schrute Farms
Schrute Farms turns out to have many purposes other than simply growing beets over the nine seasons of The Office, as it's also the home to many obscure Schrute family traditions. Those are on full display when Dwight operates a bed and breakfast in the season 4 two-parter episode "Money." Jim and Pam (Jenna Fisher) book a stay, and Dwight is surprisingly professional and mostly stays in character as the host. Some of the activities include table making, mattress making, plowing fields, and of course, planting beets. As the owner, Dwight is very accommodating and even reads Harry Potter to guests as a bedtime story.
There's no knowing exactly how long Schrute Farms acts as a bed and breakfast, as the enterprise isn't mentioned again in any subsequent episodes. However, if Jim and Pam's heartfelt review on Trip Advisor has any effect, the bed and breakfast should have a relative amount of success. It also surprisingly brings Jim and Dwight together, leading to Rainn Wilson's personal favorite Dwight scene where the two characters have a heart-to-heart in a stairwell. But as Dwight later uses the farm for other ventures, such as hosting weddings and other events, it's safe to say that Schrute Farms' bed and breakfast guests leave more realistic and accurate reviews online.
Business Park Owner
In The Office season 6, episode 26, "Whistleblower," following the advice given to him by Jo (Kathy Bates), Dwight buys the business park where Dunder Mifflin operates, and Hank's (Hugh Dane) facial expression when he finds out says it all. But Dwight does some things that actually improve employees' work-life, such as opening a coffee shop in the reception area. Rainn Wilson actually injured Craig Robinson while filming The Office season 8, episode 9, "Mrs. California," when he dropped a kettlebell on the actor. The episode sees Dwight opening a gym in the business park, and the real-life injury is a perfect representation of the way he manages the building.
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Outside of that, when he buys the building, Dwight clearly has some pent-up anger to relieve. The beet farmer uses a machine where he has Nate (Mark Proksch) turn two-ply toilet paper into one-ply in season 7, episode 10, "China," and he monetizes Thanksgiving with the criminally overpriced hay festival in season 9, episode 7, "WUPHF.com." Nevertheless, despite Dwight being a terrible building manager, he knows exactly how to profit from the endeavor, so it is hardly a failure. Dwight never once loses the business park, so it's likely that he still owns the building, 10 years after the show ended.
Acting Manager, Sabre
It's a wonder how Michael Scott became manager in the first place, but given all the different managers following his resignation, in hindsight, he was actually great at his job. Between Deangelo Vickers (Will Ferrell) and Creed Bratton (Creed Bratton), every choice of manager was awful, but when Dwight steps in as Acting Manager in The Office season 7, episode 24, "Dwight K. Schrute (Acting) Manager," things hit an all-time low. Dwight runs Sabre like a dictatorship, which sets the office workplace back decades. Employees are required to use an antique punch clock and pledge allegiance every morning, but his tenure as Acting Manager only lasts a few days.
As Dwight has always thought of himself as a deputy sheriff, he never comes closer to realizing that dream than when he patrols the office with a live gun in his holster. Of all the actors almost cast as Dunder Mifflin's manager, including Will Arnett as Fred Henry and Ricky Gervais as David Brent, this is the worst timeline for the staff, as Dwight actually shoots the gun. He temporarily deafens Andy (Ed Helms) and traumatizes his employees, which quickly sees him relieved of the role he's tried to earn for the past seven years. Despite the heinous act, his original sales role is still amazingly given back to him.
Vice President Of Special Projects, Sabre
The Office saw Dwight in the role of Sabre's Vice President of Special Projects for just a few hours in season 8, episode 18, "Last Day in Florida." While it sounds like it comes with a lot of responsibilities, the job title was ultimately a mark of death. Following the Pyramid's failure and given Robert California's (James Spader) disdain for Sabre products, the CEO needed a fall guy. For the brief time that he was VP, Dwight showed how obnoxious and power-hungry he really was. Based on that, maybe he deserved to be fired. However, Jim holds Dwight back long enough that Robert California fires Todd Packer (David Koechner) instead.
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Manager, Dunder Mifflin
While it hardly makes sense that Dwight would get to keep his sales job after shooting a gun in the office, it makes even less sense that he gets promoted to Regional Manager again in the same lifetime. However, in a happily-ever-after ending, that's exactly what happens in the series finale of The Office. Of all the regional managers after Michael leaves, it turns out that the beet farmer really is the best of them all. It seems as if Dwight learns from his mistakes and knows how to run Dunder Mifflin without it turning into a dictatorship and destroying his employees' self-worth.
Given that Dwight finally becomes the Regional Manager in the last episode of The Office, there's no knowing how well he does in the role and if he'd still be the manager today. It's something that could be explored in a revival of the show, and Wilson has expressed that he'd love to do a reunion. As Dwight finally learns how to empathize with his staff in the finale and becomes much closer to them, it's likely that he still has his job. After all of his trials and tribulations, the beet farmer finally becomes a worthy successor to Michael Scott.
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