How to use pivot in sql server (without aggregates )?

SELECT [Doctor], [Professor], [Singer], [Actor] FROM   
(
    SELECT ROW_NUMBER() OVER (PARTITION BY Occupation ORDER BY Name) ROW_NO, 
    ISNULL(NULL,Name) as Name, Occupation
    FROM Occupations
) AS t 
PIVOT(
    MAX(Name)
    FOR Occupation IN (
        [Doctor], 
        [Professor], 
        [Singer], 
        [Actor]
    )
) AS pivot_table
ORDER BY ROW_NO;

I tried this in Oracle, seemed easier to comprehend:

SELECT min(Doctor), min(Professor), min(Singer), min(Actor)
FROM
( Select
ROW_NUMBER() OVER (PARTITION BY Occupation order by Name) rn, 
CASE 
WHEN Occupation = 'Doctor' then Name
end as Doctor,
CASE 
WHEN Occupation = 'Professor' then Name
end as Professor,
CASE 
WHEN Occupation = 'Singer' then Name
end as Singer,
CASE 
WHEN Occupation = 'Actor' then Name
end as Actor
from OCCUPATIONS
order by Name) a
group by rn
order by rn;

You just need to give each name a row number based on their occupation and order alphabetically.. then include that row number in your pivot query.

CREATE TABLE Occupations (
     NAME VARCHAR(MAX),
     Occupation VARCHAR(MAX)
    )
INSERT  INTO Occupations
VALUES
        ('Samantha','Doctor'),
        ('Julia','Actor'),
        ('Maria','Actor'),
        ('Meera','Singer'),
        ('Ashley','Professor'),
        ('Ketty','Professor'),
        ('Christeen','Professor'),
        ('Jane','Actor'),
        ('Jenny','Doctor'),
        ('Priya','Singer');

SELECT
    [Doctor],
    [Professor],
    [Singer],
    [Actor]
FROM
    (SELECT 
         ROW_NUMBER() OVER (PARTITION BY Occupation ORDER BY Name) rn,
         [Name],
         [Occupation] 
     FROM 
         Occupations
    ) AS source 
PIVOT
    (MAX(Name) FOR [occupation] IN ([Doctor],[Professor],[Singer],[Actor])) as pvt
ORDER BY rn


DROP TABLE Occupations

-- Edit: We need to enclose the subquery after PIVOT within parenthesis "()" to make it work on SQL Server.