I’VE never met a poor plumber, have you? I’ve met a few nice ones – a couple of rich ones, too – but theirs was never a career path I contemplated for myself.
The very idea of being up to my armpits in any sort of stinky stuff is, as far as I’m concerned (and as the beloved would say, although I really wish he wouldn’t use such gross expressions), enough to gag a maggot.
As it turns out, though, job-wise plumbers are quite a happy bunch.
Sewage plant workers seem also pretty pleased with their lot in life. In the best jobs stakes, they rate just 21 places below plumbers, who came in at number 66 on a list of 200 jobs surveyed by US careers experts CareerCast and, believe it or not, one place ahead of librarians. Strange. I’d have thought most people would far rather have their heads in a book than a sewer.
The survey, which has been conducted annually for 25 years, rates jobs based on outlook (prospects for the future); environment; income; and stress levels.
And guess what? Mine – well, a slight variation of it, anyway – rates as the worst of the lot. Yes, at rock bottom are reporters – and that’s out of a total of 200.
Top of the heap are actuaries – those people who, puzzlingly to certain other people (usually those in my line of work who love words but hate maths), “calculate insurance risks and premiums”.
“Publication editors” rank much more highly than we lowly scribes – at number 168 – but even they are more stressed than American cops (166) or firefighters (167). Huh?
“The logic of the survey, simply put, is that most of us work mainly to earn a living and the most important criteria therefore are Income and Outlook, the latter being, of course, related to employment and income security over the long-haul,” reckons Career Cast.
Strangely – in the stress stakes at least, although I have no idea what their salaries are like so perhaps that’s what pushes them up – nuclear decontamination technicians come in at an optimistic 65.
The whole thing’s caused quite a kerfuffle, even managing to stir a bit of snarly my- job’s-more-stressful-than-yours competition in certain quarters. Some professors seem particularly peeved at their good position (14) and reckon they’re much worse off than that. “Anyone who rates us that low on stress has never had to juggle the last weeks before finals, unsure if you have any classes to teach in the fall (and sure you have no work in the summer),” huffs one.
Reporters have fared pretty poorly on the list for years due to the job’s long hours, high stress, strict deadlines, low pay, and requirement to work in all conditions to get the story. Adding ever-shrinking newsrooms, dwindling budgets and competition from internet businesses into the mix is apparently what sees it plummet to worst job in the world.
Makes me wonder why I ever chose to be a journalist. Then again, even though I’m stressed out and poor (compared to most other professionals, I know), I might otherwise have missed out on my lifelong love affair with words.
Today’s Chiel is Stevie Godson. E-mail her at
It’s reportedly rock bottom
The very idea of being up to my armpits in any sort of stinky stuff is, as far as I’m concerned (and as the beloved would say, although I really wish he wouldn’t use such gross expressions), enough to gag a maggot.
As it turns out, though, job-wise plumbers are quite a happy bunch.
Sewage plant workers seem also pretty pleased with their lot in life. In the best jobs stakes, they rate just 21 places below plumbers, who came in at number 66 on a list of 200 jobs surveyed by US careers experts CareerCast and, believe it or not, one place ahead of librarians. Strange. I’d have thought most people would far rather have their heads in a book than a sewer.
The survey, which has been conducted annually for 25 years, rates jobs based on outlook (prospects for the future); environment; income; and stress levels.
And guess what? Mine – well, a slight variation of it, anyway – rates as the worst of the lot. Yes, at rock bottom are reporters – and that’s out of a total of 200.
Top of the heap are actuaries – those people who, puzzlingly to certain other people (usually those in my line of work who love words but hate maths), “calculate insurance risks and premiums”.
“Publication editors” rank much more highly than we lowly scribes – at number 168 – but even they are more stressed than American cops (166) or firefighters (167). Huh?
“The logic of the survey, simply put, is that most of us work mainly to earn a living and the most important criteria therefore are Income and Outlook, the latter being, of course, related to employment and income security over the long-haul,” reckons Career Cast.
Strangely – in the stress stakes at least, although I have no idea what their salaries are like so perhaps that’s what pushes them up – nuclear decontamination technicians come in at an optimistic 65.
The whole thing’s caused quite a kerfuffle, even managing to stir a bit of snarly my- job’s-more-stressful-than-yours competition in certain quarters. Some professors seem particularly peeved at their good position (14) and reckon they’re much worse off than that. “Anyone who rates us that low on stress has never had to juggle the last weeks before finals, unsure if you have any classes to teach in the fall (and sure you have no work in the summer),” huffs one.
Reporters have fared pretty poorly on the list for years due to the job’s long hours, high stress, strict deadlines, low pay, and requirement to work in all conditions to get the story. Adding ever-shrinking newsrooms, dwindling budgets and competition from internet businesses into the mix is apparently what sees it plummet to worst job in the world.
Makes me wonder why I ever chose to be a journalist. Then again, even though I’m stressed out and poor (compared to most other professionals, I know), I might otherwise have missed out on my lifelong love affair with words.
Today’s Chiel is Stevie Godson. E-mail her at
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