The best and worst jobs

Posted at 8:48 AM on January 11, 2009 by Bob Collins (7 Comments)
Filed under: Economy

Eat your vegetables and do your math homework, kids. It's where the good jobs are. So says the Web site, Careercast, which has ranked the best and worst jobs in today's economy.

See the common thread in the top ten?

1. Mathematician
2. Actuary
3. Statistician
4. Biologist
5. Software engineer
6. Computer systems analyst
7. Historian
8. Sociologist
9. Industrial designer
10. Accountant

And the worst jobs...

1. Lumberjack
2. Dairy farmer
3. Taxi driver
4. Seaman
5. Emergency medical technician (EMT)
6. Roofer
7. Garbage collector
8. Welder
9. Roustabout
10. Ironworker

The ratings are, we're told, based on a number of factors including salary, stress, and physical demands.

Some other rankings in the list of 200 include federal judge (69), newscaster (75), airplane pilot (116), newspaper reporter (140), undertaker (164), photojournalist (167), and bricklayer (180).

"Blogger" did not make the list. Again.

For you old-timers, if you had to do it again, would you take the same career path? Me? My first career choice was airline pilot. These days, either road would've led to a dead end.

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Comments (7)

Historian?

Where does one get this gig?

Posted by Erk Hare | January 11, 2009 9:24 AM

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I was a bioinformatics software engineer in Minneapolis until they laid off my entire group.

Despite what the lists say, there really isn't a safe bet in this economy. (sigh)

Posted by Max | January 11, 2009 9:40 AM

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Sociologists beat economists!

Posted by Zach | January 11, 2009 4:47 PM

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The idea of helping people as a doctor was an idea for a while Rank 142 After getting to college, I quickly realized I would never pass medical school, and pursued my actual major, Chemistry Rank 54

Currently, I work in Industrial Safety/IH. This, too is a way to help with health, in my case, keeping them healthy at work. Rank89

Would I do it again? Well, sort of. I really enjoy what I do, so I don't regret the choices that led here. That said,

I was inspired to study medicine after reading an old Life Magazine with a cover story about a woman who was a physician in the backwaters of Appalachia. The idea of spending time making people healthy, who lived in an environment where they didn't have access to such things, was appealing.

I'm currently at the U. for a Masters of Public Health for industrial safety/health. I finally realized my initial desire to help people as a doctor wasn't' actually to be a physician - what inspired the passion was the helping people be healthier. I wish I'd realized this when I was in college and gone straight to doing it through the field of public health, rather than seeing medical school as the hurdle to overcome.

If I decided to change jobs again ... my original job choice would return, doing public health in the field. BTW - this wasn't ranked.

Posted by Elizabeth T | January 11, 2009 9:46 PM

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I'm a software engineer, who plays at lumberjack, roofer, welder and more in my free time.

Posted by bsimon | January 12, 2009 9:25 AM

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I was a computer systems analyst for a major IT company's local marketing branch and it was the best job ever. And I'm so glad I was able to retire 10 years ago

Posted by momkat | January 12, 2009 7:41 PM

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I am surprised that Nursing is not in the top 10. You can get a good paying job with only a 2 year degree. Maybe it is the stress involved that knocked it off the list. I do not think I would do it again if I was starting over now.

Posted by Scot Harvey | January 15, 2009 10:10 AM

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