Oh My God, Stop Asking What I Do for Work
blog.absurdpirate.com
blog.absurdpirate.com
PS: Cool theme btw :)
How important could your job be if it can be automated now, right? You as a human remain important, regardless of the work.
As to social status: if someone is willing to befriend another when they have one sort of job but wouldn't be willing to befriend the same person if they had a different sort of job, I think that someone is cheating themselves.
Other first questions could be "What is the core of your identity?" (though that might be too intense/intrusive) or "Of all the things we could talk about, what would you be most interested in?"
I'd be willing to be that most people wouldn't be able to answer this question.
I don't think I've ever asked someone what they do for a living as an icebreaker, personally. I've found there's always a more interesting thing to ask. I don't have a standard icebreaker, though, because the most interesting thing to ask depends on the person and situation. It could be something they're wearing, or something about an offhand comment you heard them say, or something about the situation/environment we are both in.