The Best and Worst Jobs In The U.S.

Very true, Shrubbery.

Which is why I'm quite happy with my job. The true test for me starts Monday, though. My first class.

And I know this is taboo to talk about since I'll be chastised by over half of you (it's a Boot Camp, blah, blah blah), but I work for Computertraining.com. And BTW, it's not a Boot Camp.
 
This list is compiled to steer the sheep towards a particular degree by the universities.
 
188. Auto Mechanic
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Hell yeah I made the list.

I love my job. Sadly noone realises that to be an Automotive Tech you have to have extensive knowledge these fields

Electrician (Hybrids are like working around downed power lines)
Plumber
Hydraulics
Local Area Networking (majority of todays vehicles have upwards of 20 computers in them all networked through data lines)
Satalite communication
Physics
Aerodynamics (try chasing a wind noise due to a roof rack misposition)


All those fields and the average tech makes $35-$40k a year. Granted I do know a couple that make over $100k
 
{EB}NuTSymPToM{EB} said:
Wow...I guess that's America for you.

Some of the careers listed as "best" are college degrees that are totally worthless. "Philospher", "Historian", "Sociologist"? "Paralegal Assistant" my ass...what about a lawyer?

The worst careers are people who actually have hard jobs, though they do mention environment and stress as voting measures. My mom is a nurse. She works hard and is highly in demand. Meanwhile some putz that went to night school to test urine samples is in the top 20 "Medical Laboratory Technician".

I'm infinitely pissed that somewhere some pot-head college grad is saying "See! Philosopher is great!" Maybe I'm just bitter that I was always studying in engineering school while my Comm/History/Psych friends all got high and played video games all day.
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Hate to break it to you but pot has nothing to do with success or failure in school. Sure there are your stereotypical stoners, but the majority of people who smoke weed are normal people. Of course there are gonna be the philosophy and artsy types, but you would be surprised how many undercover stoners are out there in the engineering, math, and medical fields.

BTW, this list is dumb. Number one job should be pro golfer.
 
My dad is a firefighter and makes a damn good salary (it all depends on the city you work for), while only working 10 days a month. I dont know about you but I cant think of many better jobs. Sure you can make more money, but you wont have as much time off to enjoy life and spend time with your family. I also know a guy who has been a welder for 2 years and makes 35 dollars an hour...that would definitely bump that up on the list. Most people I know in the dairy industry are fairly rich, so I cant see that being on the bottom of the list, sure its not the best smelling job, until you associate that smell with dollar signs.
 
redman223 said:
My dad is a firefighter and makes a damn good salary (it all depends on the city you work for), while only working 10 days a month. I dont know about you but I cant think of many better jobs. Sure you can make more money, but you wont have as much time off to enjoy life and spend time with your family. I also know a guy who has been a welder for 2 years and makes 35 dollars an hour...that would definitely bump that up on the list. Most people I know in the dairy industry are fairly rich, so I cant see that being on the bottom of the list, sure its not the best smelling job, until you associate that smell with dollar signs.
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yeah it must depend on where you live because around here firefighters make the same as police which is not much over 30 grand.
 
Yeah it is the same around here normally (Fresno area in CA), I have 3 friends getting into firefighting, they all want to work where my dad does(Clovis), because the pay is better than many of the surrounding smaller cities. Everyone says it is really hard to get in though, especially with the economy the way it is. But the cops here get paid really well too, my friend has been a cop here in Clovis for about 2 years now (he graduated with a BS in criminal justice) and said that most people dont make it past their first year because the department is really hard on new officers (I also have another friend who was a cop in another city and got fired after a few weeks).
 
Seaman is at the bottom of the list too. Probably because I make so many fo them.
 
srangara said:
I think you will find that a fair number of ethics critics and policy makers are X/Philosophers.

E.g. Biologist/Philosophers are fairly heavily embroiled in (and in demand for) the legal debate on Creationism vs. Evolution in the classroom.
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You mean Sophists or crap talkers. I mean not everybody is Enmanuel Kant or Socrates for that matter.
 
MacGyver467 said:
Blaineikans said:
Well I don't know if it's what I want to do when I graduate but I'm well on my way to the #1 spot with a math degree in the works.
I know what they mean by a true "Mathematician". Let's just say the following three letters are involved: N, S, and A.

My wife's friend was a "mathematician" for them and raked in at least $100k/year. When I first met her and she said she was a "Mathematician for the DoD", I replied with "So, you're a code breaker." She blushed. :p
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Oh you mean The One and Only Good Will Hunting guy?
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This list is completely stupid. Where do they get their income stats from? I am a financial planner/stockbroker, and averaging the income of those two lists gives me about 50/55 grand a year. I make about 6 times that (although maybe a bit less this year because of the economic crisis).
I really think this list has been made by someone who should have done a bit more research.
 
Enduring_Warrior said:
You mean Sophists or crap talkers. I mean not everybody is Enmanuel Kant or Socrates for that matter.
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And not every actor is Meryl Streep either. Doesn't matter. They can still get relatively high paying gigs for the effort involved. Like "star", you can also add "crap talker" to many jobs on that list. :)

A quick Google search does reveal that most Philosopher jobs do look to be in academia. But then, I expect most research jobs (Biologist, etc.) to also be at Universities. Good benefits.
 
MacGyver467 said:
Quite honestly, srangara, I'd rather be an Adult Educator than a teacher. At least the people I teach are somewhat matured.
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I would tend to agree with you--my starting salary as a Tech Instructor 10 years ago was $50k--but I would dispute the maturity part. I've had DBAs arguing about whether a radio button control should have a default value and then rolling their eyes whenever I touch on anything related to data integrity. Adults come to the classroom already thinking they know more than you.

And I'm sure we have shared stories about students hitting on the receptionist, checking e-mail, playing Hearts, leaving early and coming in late (after a liquid lunch), plugging in portable drives to 'borrow' files, etc.

One guy I used to work with rejected a transfer in favour of teaching high school. He's in a good area and gets to set a certain amount of his curriculum so he's looooving it. Not for me, though.
 
srangara said:
And not every actor is Meryl Streep either. Doesn't matter. They can still get relatively high paying gigs for the effort involved. Like "star", you can also add "crap talker" to many jobs on that list. :)

A quick Google search does reveal that most Philosopher jobs do look to be in academia. But then, I expect most research jobs (Biologist, etc.) to also be at Universities. Good benefits.
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That would be my point exaclty. Having philospher on the list means you should have rock star, pro athlete etc on there. Outside of academia (anyone inside of academia should be labeled by their job - University Prof and not the subject), there is practically no jobs for philosophers, there are probably many less working "Philosphers" than rock stars.

Hell you should have Lotto winner. I am sure there are a lot more lotto winners than Philosophers. Maybe add Princess to the list.

The list is utterly inane. The criteria are totally arbitrary.

A decent list would either include everything (rock star, race car driver, astronaut...) or only include sensible jobs that are attainable only with hard work and education, excluding the "star" jobs which of their are very few only obtained by the exceptionally gifted and lucky (Rock Star, Pro Athlete, Philosopher). It should also include what it takes to get their. Mathematician requires innate talent and likely a Master degree at minimum. And then years of entry level crap jobs.

A bachelors degree in anything these days barely qualifies for a job unless it is one of the more practical fields (Engineering, Nursing). But in basic Arts and Science it doesn't get you much.
 
Interesitng list. Notice the trend?

Jobs that produce nothing tangable = GOOD
Jobs that produce an actial product = BAD

Looks like that was put together by some elitist, metrosexual, whimp ass "Girley Man".

I've had jobs in the top 5 and the bottom 10. If anything, I was HAPPIER with the bottom 10 job.

This list was put together by someone that has no clue that all people are different, and what is a 'good' job for one, is not necessairly a 'good' job for someone else..
 
Woohoo! I'm a software engineer / computer systems analyst which are number 5 & 6. It has to be said I can see where they're coming from based on these criteria:

The necessary energy component - about zero, I work from my couch
Work conditions (toxic fumes, noise, etc.) - my own gas / TV :cool:
Stamina required - about the only area that might get a point - sometimes I work overnight on-call
Degree of confinement - self-imposed - I could work from any place with wifi if I wanted to
Degree of competitiveness - team of six, competitiveness is fun and friendly
Degree of hazards personally faced - see comment on toxic fumes
Degree of peril faced by others - see comment on toxic fumes
Degree of the public contact - just me and the girlfriend
Working week - 37 hours - 45 is light???
Income - $70k+ - not great, but sufficient for now. I just turned 27, I can wait for the real money
Salary growth - 30% last year, top income is well above where I am now
Promotion - already in the pipeline

Thank you - I already loved my job, now I can put a number on it :)

Incidentally, regards "rock star" , "pro athlete" , "movie star" etc. - I'm glad none of those are on there and couldn't stand to be any of them myself. None of them are real jobs; they achieve nothing for society, only for themselves, in pursuits that are wholly pointless.

It is right that a garbage collector should be listed as a preferable career choice to any of these so called professions, as such a person is performing a service which is not only useful but vital to society. If people were paid based on their usefullness our world would be in much better shape, and relatively few useless people from the entertainment and sports industries would not be sitting on all the money.
 
Alistair Roe said:
This list is completely stupid. Where do they get their income stats from? I am a financial planner/stockbroker, and averaging the income of those two lists gives me about 50/55 grand a year. I make about 6 times that (although maybe a bit less this year because of the economic crisis).
I really think this list has been made by someone who should have done a bit more research.
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Wow, I should have gone into moving paper around instead of curing cancer.
 
necrosis said:
70k a year is "not great"? Jesus Christ put down the crack pipe.
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Maybe he lives in the really expensive parts of California. :p

I like how math degrees hold the top 3 positions. Actuaries do make a ton of money and don't have a lot of competition since it's a degree most people stay away from.

Of course, if you like your job, this list should really make no difference on your choice in life.
 
RAF_OldBuzzard said:
Interesitng list. Notice the trend?

Jobs that produce nothing tangable = GOOD
Jobs that produce an actial product = BAD

Looks like that was put together by some elitist, metrosexual, whimp ass "Girley Man".

I've had jobs in the top 5 and the bottom 10. If anything, I was HAPPIER with the bottom 10 job.

This list was put together by someone that has no clue that all people are different, and what is a 'good' job for one, is not necessairly a 'good' job for someone else..
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Welcome to the service-based economy. You wanna make something? The U.S. is relatively resource-poor, so good luck with that. You'll need a few pencil pushers to get you the stuff you need. Might have better luck in China?

Of course, you are welcome to compile the data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Census Bureau yourself with whatever criteria you think is important.
 
Injection of <3 said:
So being a lumberjack is not okay?

The song lied to us. :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:
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I'm a lumberjack and I'm OK
I sleep all night and I work all day
... <snop> ...
I cut down trees, I skip and jump
I love to press wild flow'rs
I put on women's clothing
And hang around in bars

lol great song
 
I don't agree with this list at all. I don't believe you can title a job as being the best and one as being the worst. It's more to a degree of perspective.

I think my job is the best in the US, and it's not even on that list, others may think it's the worst job to have. It's all a matter of perspective. While most of us will scoff at a garbage man, but there are plenty out there who loves their jobs and wouldn't trade it for the world.
 
The reason Nurse is so low is that it says Nurse (LN) is different than a Registered Nurse (RN). Here is a quick definition I found on ask yahoo.

A person who under general direction, facilitates the admission, treatment, and discharge of people requiring hospitalization. The nurse liaison also keeps families and the patient informed of medical condition and what the doctors are doing about the condition. They consult with hospital staff regarding admissions, treatment, discharge planning and financial and/or insurance coverage; and to do related work as required.

Sounds pretty craptastic compared to normal nursing, and my girlfriend is a RN at large hospital.
 
BillLeeLee said:
Maybe he lives in the really expensive parts of California. :p

I like how math degrees hold the top 3 positions. Actuaries do make a ton of money and don't have a lot of competition since it's a degree most people stay away from.

Of course, if you like your job, this list should really make no difference on your choice in life.
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I'm not actually in the US at all, I'm in the UK, but I figure a good job is a good job wherever it is. Now if someone were to offer me a job in California...

I did mean 'not great' in the literal sense - I certainly don't think I'm badly-paid. It's good, it just isn't great. Good is when I can afford a decent car and a nice house; great is when I can afford a yacht :p As I said though, I love my job, it's just nice to see external validation of my choice, expecially since I walked out of a maths/science degree at a top university to take it.
 
I was really surprised by the data for teachers. I teach at the high school and college level and I was amazed at how low the income was. 53k a year? here in Canada, with 10 years experience in category 4, you make over 90k at the high school level.
 
Considering these are jobs in the states... where's slavery?

And I don't mean working at fast food...
 
Draax, welcome to America, where teachers, firemen, and police officers are paid VERY LOW for their dedicated and required service to the community. :(
 
Teachers are paid crap, get blamed for nearly every public ill, get treated like dirt by many of the childrens' parents, and then we wonder why most good people with degrees go into industry and we're stuck with PE teachers tackling calculus.
 
Draax said:
I was really surprised by the data for teachers. I teach at the high school and college level and I was amazed at how low the income was. 53k a year? here in Canada, with 10 years experience in category 4, you make over 90k at the high school level.
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MacGyver467 said:
Draax, welcome to America, where teachers, firemen, and police officers are paid VERY LOW for their dedicated and required service to the community. :(
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I was just going to say that but then McGyver beat me to it. Police, Teachers, Firefighters, and EMS should be amongst the highest paid... yet here in the US they get paid crap.

In Canada, firefighting and teaching is a really good well-paid occupation.
 
JDAdams said:
I'm not actually in the US at all, I'm in the UK, but I figure a good job is a good job wherever it is. Now if someone were to offer me a job in California...

I did mean 'not great' in the literal sense - I certainly don't think I'm badly-paid. It's good, it just isn't great. Good is when I can afford a decent car and a nice house; great is when I can afford a yacht :p As I said though, I love my job, it's just nice to see external validation of my choice, expecially since I walked out of a maths/science degree at a top university to take it.
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Actually, if you read slashdot or similar, for the past few years software engineer has usually been #1 or #2 in the money.cnn.com listings of jobs, along with college professor, because of the creative leeway you get in both and the working environment. So if you wanted some media outlet to validate your career choice, they've been doing it for years.

Draax said:
I was really surprised by the data for teachers. I teach at the high school and college level and I was amazed at how low the income was. 53k a year? here in Canada, with 10 years experience in category 4, you make over 90k at the high school level.
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Varies wildly in the states, and if you teach at private/public, and what school district. I live in a city where starting teachers make maybe $28K a year, and the most senior teacher at the high school I went too (30+ years) made 56K or so. One of my former coworkers lives in a school district where young teachers fresh out of school with the M.Ed. made 75 - 80K teaching at the high school level.
 
As an interesting note, a lumberjack in the US makes more than most people in most european countries make in a year. I can also cite a few of those countries, that are more expensive in terms of food, clothes and all the other essentials, than the US...
 
MacGyver467 said:
Draax, welcome to America, where teachers, firemen, and police officers are paid VERY LOW for their dedicated and required service to the community. :(
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That's not a problem with America only. My own country suffers from that. Not so much the teachers, but the fireman and police officers that risk and sometimes lose, their life on duty still get paid very low.
 
Aw, my job isn't even listed.

Though to be fair, I don't think many people do what I do. Kind of a weird position.
 
MacGyver467 said:
Draax, welcome to America, where teachers, firemen, and police officers are paid VERY LOW for their dedicated and required service to the community. :(
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Your kidding me right? The teachers unions in this state extort the hell out of us.
 
Oh and a follow up to my last post?

There was an article in the paper last week explaining how Suffolk? police in LI work only 183 days a year- 5 WEEKS vacation a year and paid personal days out the ass.

I really dislike unions here in New England, don't get me started.
 
What makes this list irrelevant is that everyone has different tastes and tolerances.

The prime example is that "Parole Officer" made it to the top. I've been on probation before and if you walk into those offices, you'll NEVER see a smile on one of those people's faces. I got to know my PO pretty well and she was saying that the worst part of that job is that there aren't many success stories. It drives some people into depression. ...not to mention that most people aren't exactly happy them. There's a reason that there's a high demand for that job and it's not because people are begging to stay in that field.

...and c'mon! This list makes it seem like these are all easily attainable jobs. Newscaster? Federal judge? Advertising exec? Fashion designer? ...why not add "President of the US" or "Senator" while they're at it?

It's actually sad that expending energy and physical demands would give a job a lower rank. Are people that lazy nowadays? ...I guess it shouldn't be a surprise that America has such a high obesity rate with that menality being promoted.
 
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