JobsRated.com has taken a look at their URL, and decided that they should rate the best jobs in the world. (Methodology here; thanks to Diana Brodie for the pointer.) Obviously crazy, of course. I mean, Mathematician? Biologist? Philosopher? Dude, get serious.
1. Mathematician
Applies mathematical theories and formulas to teach or solve problems in a business, educational, or industrial climate.2. Actuary
Interprets statistics to determine probabilities of accidents, sickness, and death, and loss of property from theft and natural disasters.3. Statistician
Tabulates, analyzes, and interprets the numeric results of experiments and surveys.4. Biologist
Studies the relationship of plants and animals to their environment.5. Software Engineer
Researches, designs, develops and maintains software systems along with hardware development for medical, scientific, and industrial purposes.6. Computer Systems Analyst
Plans and develops computer systems for businesses and scientific institutions.7. Historian
Analyzes and records historical information from a specific era or according to a particular area of expertise.8. Sociologist
Studies human behavior by examining the interaction of social groups and institutions.9. Industrial Designer
Designs and develops manufactured products.10. Accountant
Prepares and analyzes financial reports to assist managers in business, industry and government.11. Economist
Studies and analyzes the effects of resources such as land, labor, and raw materials, on costs and their relation to industry and government.12. Philosopher
Studies questions concerning the nature of intellectual concepts, and attempts to construct rational theories concerning our understanding of the world around us.13. Physicist
Researches and develops theories concerning the physical forces of nature.14. Parole Officer
Monitors, counsels, and reports on the progress of individuals who have been released from correctional institutions to serve parole.15. Meteorologist
Studies the physical characteristics, motions and processes of the earth’s atmosphere.16. Medical Laboratory Technician
Conducts routine laboratory tests and analyses used in the detection, diagnosis, and treatment of disease.17. Paralegal Assistant
Assists attorneys in preparation of legal documents; collection of depositions and affidavits; and investigation, research and analysis of legal issues.18. Computer Programmer
Organizes and lists the instructions for computers to process data and solve problems in logical order.19. Motion Picture Editor
Supervises the filming and editing of motion pictures for entertainment, business, and educational purposes.20. Astronomer
Uses principles of physics and mathematics to understand the workings of the universe.
The real lesson, of course, is that it’s awesome to be a professor. Or a parole officer. Whichever.
And here are the worst jobs, of course:
1. Lumberjack
Fells, cuts, and transports timber to be processed into lumber, paper, and other wood products.2. Dairy Farmer
Directs and takes part in activities involved in the raising of cattle for milk production.3. Taxi Driver
Operates a taxi cab over the streets and roads of a municipality, picking up and dropping off passengers by request.4. Seaman
May perform any number of tasks involved in the operation of ships, boats, barges, or dredges.5. Emergency Medical Technician
Attends to situations which demand immediate medical attention, such as automobile accidents, heart attacks, and gunshot wounds.6. Roofer
Installs roofs on new buildings, performs repairs on old roofs, and re-roofs old buildings.7. Garbage Collector
Collects refuse on a designated municipal route, and transports trash to disposal plants or landfill areas.8. Welder
Joins or repairs metal surfaces through the application of heat.9. Roustabout
Performs routine physical labor and maintenance on oil rigs and pipelines, both on and off shore.10. Ironworker
Raises the steel framework of buildings, bridges, and other structures.
Interestingly, dangerous and low-paying jobs involving a great deal of manual labor seem to come in below the glamorous and largely sedentary lifestyle of a typical academic. Although opinions differ; my brother is an EMT, and he couldn’t be happier with the job.
Yet another meaningless ranking…
I’ve done both types of jobs. I was a plasterer for many years after political infighting destroyed the land development company for which I was CFO.
Honestly, being a plasterer was, by far, the more satisfying job. The money wasn’t great, but stepping back at the end of the day and looking at tangible results was a habit I came to enjoy greatly. That “stepping back” exercise became a daily ritual for me. I always left work with a sense of accomplishment.
Business management had it’s moments, but they were much less frequent. The stress was constant and the work day didn’t end until you finally fell asleep. The money was much better. To this day, the balance between money and a feeling of fulfillment is difficult.
The only occupation I can imagine may strike a good balance, is to be a physicist. I had a high school math teacher who told me “I just wasn’t cut out to be a physicist.” So I gave up on that ambition … and, knowing what I know now, I will never forgive that man.
Did anyone else notice that their pay rating system makes almost no sense. They add two entirely unrelated numbers–in fact, the units don’t match. They add the percent growth potential to the median salary, which in a typical case, is almost exactly the same as the median salary. A far more logical method would be to either simply use the median salary or to multiply by some sort of weighted growth potential factor, rather than adding the two dimensionally inconsistent numbers.
If I’m not violating the prohibition on Monty Python, I’d just like to say that I never wanted to be a physicist. I wanted to be a lumberjack. But looking for the lyrics on the net I found this version which contains an interesting variation:
Shurely Shome Mishtake?
The jobs are rated mainly by their “negatives,” e.g. stress, physical demands, etc. They even consider public contact and the number of machines used to be negative factors. Sure, they throw in things like income and employment, but they leave out job satisfaction and any sort of enjoyment. Unsurprisingly, the jobs that are the most physically intensive are rated the lowest and the least demanding jobs (in terms of physical exertion and deadlines) are rated the highest… though I personally like how the list turned out; take that, lumberjacks!
“Whoever made this list needs to hang out with some geologists!”
Going outside and physical activity are considered negatives by this system.
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Hmmmm. Biologists are listed as working 45 hours/week. Not until they are tenured they don’t.
All your Ivory Towers would crumble if it were not for the people performing what you call the worst jobs in the world. Somebody has to do the real work. They have my greatest respect.
I am quite happy that I have switched from one of the worst jobs to the best! :p
>>I think mathematicians just have the jobs with the least amount of danger. What do you have to worry about, drinking too much coffee?
Ah, but Sean, you forget that the world’s largest employer of mathematicians is the National Security Agency. In reality, mathematicians live a life of danger and international intrigue. Think Paul Erdos meets James Bond.
But there’s a separate list of the 10 most satisfying jobs – with nary an academic in sight. Apparently we should all become physical therapists or construction machinery operators.
Seaman is one of the worst? Maybe it depends on the exact position. My husband is a tug captain and it is his dream job. Not only does he not have a boss looking over his shoulder, he also doesn’t have to sit behind a desk and he makes a very comfortable 6-figure income.
There are so many bad and good jobs left off of this list. Sewage facilities work seems worse than garbage collecting; and what about working at the landfill? Mining? Inseminating cattle? Cleaning the incinerators at the morgue? And many of the top jobs contribute nothing to society, and/or seem to be replaceable by machines.
Seaman also includes commercial fishermen, and I still cringe when I remember “The Perfect Storm.” The No. 1 lesson from this study on JobsRated.com seems to be that math is a key ingredient to many successful careers, whether you become a mathematician or use math skills is some other way. I just hope our kids get that message loud and clear.
I find this list pretty funny: I had to get down to #9 on the list of “best” before I saw a job I didn’t think I would hate (crunching numbers all day sounds similar burning to death to me). Incidentally, industrial designer is pretty close to what I do anyway.
I only had to make it to #8 on the “worst,” being that I enjoy welding in general. Then again, doing it as part of a hobby, and doing it for a job are likely sorely different.
For reference, I used to be a software engineer. And it was, in fact, the feeling of death by slow fire, minus the smell.
I’m not sure I’d really enjoy being a welder, but it’s a job I’d be prepared to solder on in.
I love you Peter.
I must say this is by far the most biased list I have ever seen…it basically says “Trades suck and the people who perform them are all idiots” frankly, the only criteria used to rate this list is how much money they make, how many years of school it takes to acquire said job, and how much they spent on that education. Sure, garbage collector and taxi driver suck pretty bad, and really I can’t see how there is any incentive to perform either of those jobs but this list is simply ASSUMING (very blatantly) that anyone performing these jobs has simply gotten stuck in them because they were too dumb to do anything else. Welding is fun to me, boats are great and roofers get to work outside all summer long in the sun since you cant roof in the winter or rain. Honestly, not everyone WANTS to be a mathematician, personally I find math to be INCREDIBLY boring, I dont want to crunch numbers and figure out the mass of a star based on its rotation around its partner, I want to make things. That and I would REALLY love to see a scientist go out and fell his own trees to make the papers he needs to write notes on. Maybe I’m getting a bit bent out of shape over nothing here, but the post seems VERY unfairly biased, and not in a humorous way whatsoever.
Julianne, I love you too. Shall we dance?
Get a room, you two.
It’s more exciting in public
I gotta call “bullshit,” Sean. Physiologist is the #1 best job!!!111!!!1!!11!
Hey, don’t shoot the messenger. It seems the sole criterion for bestness was “unlikely to be killed on the job,” so physiologists didn’t stand a chance. Too many pointy implements.
Why isn’t astrologer on this list? Seems like a cushy number to me.