Best and Worst Jobs

Some bloggers are perplexed by the findings of a new study released by CareerCast.com — a recently created job portal — that sets out to rank the best and worst jobs in the United States.

According to the results, which appeared in The Wall Street Journal this week, mathematician came out on top and biologist (No. 4) made the top five. Historian (No. 7), philosopher (No. 12), physicist (No. 13) and parole officer (No. 14), of all things, all landed in the top 20. (Interestingly, physician ranked a lowly No. 142, below janitor.)

The study supposedly used five criteria — environment, income, employment outlook, physical demands, and stress — in its determinations, but it would seem that income and employment outlook got short shrift, since historians seem to have limited job prospects these days and make little moolah. (Last I heard, philosophers faced a similar situation.) And doesn’t it strike you as strange that parole officer (No. 14) ranks higher than meteorologist (No. 15) and motion-picture editor (No. 19)? Really?

Lumberjack (No. 200), dairy farmer (No. 199), taxi driver (No. 198), and seaman (No. 197) got the dubious distinction of being the worst-ranked jobs. No argument there.

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