Because lists are fun…?
I can’t seem to find many specialized finance jobs on this list, even though some of the listings are extremely specific (like “Forklift Operator”). Other notes: Software Engineer #1 (maybe all these “IT to CFA” guys are better off where they are).
WSJ article:
Actual ranking:
http://www.careercast.com/jobs-rated/2012-ranking-200-jobs-best-worst
Methodology:
http://www.careercast.com/jobs-rated/2012-jobs-rated-methodology
Human resources is listed as number 3… Yea I’m going say the author was on crack If this was a list of "relatively secure " jobs then I may be OK with it
I think these lists are completely bogus. They never have stuff like petroleum engineer dynamiter which is extremely lucrative if you don’t die. It’s really best jobs for the masses – IT, nursing, whatever.
Full disclosure: I didn’t read the list because I know it is bogus.
The list is not perfect. For instance, it does not account for variations within job descriptions (the best stockbroker has a much better job than the worst stockbroker). Also, many high end jobs are missing (like “Dermatologist” or something). However, most information is not perfect - even supposedly legitimate stuff like financial statements. It does not mean that the information says nothing.
finance job in general suck imo…there are onlly maybe 3 more jobs out there i would take for my skill level…and i have a feeling those might not be as cool as it appears…
Respect. I just want to make money by doing nothing all day but chasing HCBs. Is that too much to ask for?
You know, Ben Graham used to do that. Study SEC filings during the day, and off-balance sheet activities at night.
#20 = Sociologist. I didn’t know that major had a real job associated with it. I was politics, philosophy and econ…do you think I could become a philosopher? My guess is that pay for philosophers is high, since they are answering very large, important questions, but the stress is also probably high because of the importance of the job and tendency for heated debates.
BWYF, where did you do PPE? There aren’t all that many schools that offer it.
I also caught the humor in your post, and laughed. 
Philosophers probably have good jobs in general. Not because the field is particularly important (you can only ask the same questions so many times), but because all these are probably cushy academia jobs. If you’re at the point where you can call yourself a professional philosopher, you probably have a PhD and have somehow managed to survive the long weeding-out process, leaving you with free license to spend lots of time doing leisurely activities (“they help me think”), hit on undergrads, and occassionally write a paper for some obscure journal.
I did it in the states on the east coast at a university (not college) so that should narrow it down to approximately 2 or 3. Yes, I went to a tacky “new world” school, not one of the undeniably classier universities across the pond.
Ohai, I do agree that professional philosophers have a pretty cushy lifestyle, although the do tend to be plagued by emotional and mental peculiarities that lead to lack of hygene and/or extensive bouts of depression. Also, the Eastern European ones are required to smoke.
While the lifestyle is cushy, the pressure to solve life’s riddles is huge and the job outlook is dismal. There are a great deal of unemployed philosphers. I may start a headhunting agency.
Penn
These lists are so idiotic. I didn’t click on those links but consider this. In investments what % of people are actually managing money? It’s the same thing in tech. There is a very small % of people who are actually making things or contributing to a process that generates income.
Just like there are tons of ops people there are tons of QA, etc in tech.
blake is a smart guy…
During a summer I took a class with a philosophy professor in Prague who stank worse than the classic lost crackhead around the corner. Like a punch on the stomach.
IT —> Defend your contribution to people who don’t understand what you really “do.”
CFP —> Defend your contributions to unsophisticated investors.
CFA --> Defend your contributions to a lot of people who think they can do what you do better than you can.
So, maybe it makes a little sense?
Hmm… I don’t agree with this. Tech companies as well as embeded IT departments hire armies of developers. These devs (in tech companies) are the ones who directly create the product and make up the majority of the labour force. It’s an inverted pyramid as opposed to say the support staff required for a trading desk or a portfolio management team (right side up pyramid), where you have 3 people making the money, then an army of IT, OPS, Finance, etc stafff.
Yeah that’s definitely true, in software, there are a lot more valuable jobs as most developers are closely involved in generating the final product. One of the main reasons there are many good software jobs, but they are not super high paying.
100% incorrect. These developers you speak of are being told what to do by the “portfolio managers” of the tech company which generate the idea. It is not an “inverted pyramid.”
I come from a financial software development background and work in a front office role in Asset Management. I’m not going argue with you. Either I’m not getting what you’re saying or you’re not getting what I’m saying. Let’s just leave it at that.