Think you have the worst job in the world?

Unless you’re a roustabout, you don’t. This is according to CareerCast.com, which has released its annual Jobs Rated list, ranking 200 jobs from best to worst.

The website says. “Each year Jobs Rated researchers survey 200 jobs –
from Accountant to Zoologist – scoring them according to five key
criteria: Physical Demands, Work Environment, Income, Outlook and
Stress. Some factors remain relatively constant from year to year, but
others fluctuate greatly due to changes in the job market, technological
innovations or current events. Using data from government sources,
trade groups and private organizations, every job receives a score and
rank in each category….”

And the best job on the list is….drumroll please…Software Engineer.
This is followed by Mathematician, Actuary, Statistician and Computer
Systems Analyst. Rounding out the top ten are Meteorologist, Biologist,
Historian, Audiologist and Dental hygienist.

Not surprisingly, most of the top jobs require skills in math and/or
computing, as well as education and specialized training. There’s a
reason to go to school, people.

Software Engineers are needed these days to design everything from
operating systems to apps to games. CareerCast explains that they only
rank #23 in terms of salary, but two emerging industries: web
applications and cloud computing, helped push the job into the #1 spot,
bumping Actuary down to #2 (sorry Actuary). The demand for development
of mobile applications and cloud software has diversified the field and,
apparently, “a diverse job market brings improvements in stress factors
such as Growth Potential and Competitiveness, as workers become less
beholden to employers or vulnerable to outsourcing.”

Right in the middle at numbers 99, 100 and 101 are broadcast
technician, teacher and surgeon, respectively. So, teaching ranks higher
than operating, because a surgeon may make $365,258.00 and a teacher
only $51,132.00, but the surgeon’s job is far more stressful. You get
the idea. Wild card placements one might find interesting are
Philosopher at #16, Parole Officer at #18. Who’d have thought those two
would be neck in neck?

For the second year in a row, the worst job on the list is roustabout
– “Twelve-hour shifts, exposure to the elements in hostile
environments, low pay, high risk of injury and isolation from loved ones
for weeks at a time are just some of the factors that combine to make
Roustabout the worst job of 2011.” An explosion at the Deepwater Horizon
facility in the Gulf of Mexico last year killed 11 workers. Also, a
seven year suspension of offshore drilling in America’s Eastern Gulf and
Atlantic coastlines has worsened the hiring prospects for oil rig
workers.

Again, not surprisingly, most of the worst jobs are physically
demanding and pay little. Roustabout is followed by Ironworker,
Lumberjack, Roofer, Taxi Driver, EMT, Welder, Painter, Meter Reader and
Construction Worker.

Not everyone is hip to CareerCast’s methodology and the comments
section is full of angry rants calling the list a load of bull.

Some of the less offensive posts include, “So software engineer is a
low stress job with almost no physical demands? I’ll remember that next
time I pull a buddy out from sleeping under his desk in the middle of a
scrum.” And “taxi more stress than an EMT hahahaha, that’s the dumbest
thing I have ever read.”

I don’t know. I have a friend who’s an EMT and I doubt he’d give it up to start driving a cab.

Maybe the list is flawed but it makes a lot of sense. Hey, if you’re thinking of a career change, you might want to have a look.