Best Jobs

Few are happy with their jobs, their life time occupation or workplace.  It's human nature to feel dissonance. We want what we don't have and appreciate less what we are than what we could be.  Even though I am long retired. I enjoyed my work, I understand this reality about work. Just the other day U.S. News and World Report released its annual list of "Best Jobs" in America. Hmmmm Can there be a universal best or worst job? I doubt it,. We are all so different, with different likes and dislikes, I suspect there are even people who like the job of cleaning public toilets. Why I would rather that than to be a politician. Though they both shovel it, the toilet cleaner leaves it alone at the end of the day.

In this year's best job list, software developers replaced dentists for best job. U.S. News and World Report  uses seven measure, including salary, stress level, work life balance and the number of future job prospect to decide which job is the “best.” Another factor, demand in the labor market means whether we like being at work or not is irrelevant. So the list isn't just how happy we are at work. A job such as magician, for example, is so specialized there is little demand for it. Scratch that kind of work from the U.S. News and World Report list.

The criteria used to select the seems a little specific and rigid. What about, "Is the job fun"? Sure, a low paying job might be fun, and is it more important to make money or to have fun at work? I think it depends on who you ask. Perhaps making lists like this is too limited in scope and too universal in intent to be accurate. Besides, attempting to create a list that is so precise usually is doomed to failure. Humans are rarely precise in attitude, output or orientation. For the year 2017, the top five "Best" jobs on the list are: 1. Dentist 2. Nurse Practitioner 3. Physician Assistant 4. Statistician 5. Orthodontist   At my first glance they seemed not too exciting, maybe boring. I wouldn't be interested in any of them.

If you are a crass materialist who only wants to work for the highest pay, the top five Best Paying Jobs  are  1. Anesthesiologist  2. Surgeon 3. Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon 4. Obstetrician and Gynecologist 5. Orthodontist  And finally, in this world of business first, there is a Best Business Job category, with the top five for 2017 being 1. Statistician 2. Mathematician 3. Financial Advisor 4. Actuary 5. Operations Research Analyst

None of those appeal to me either. Well, maybe my current job, retirement bum, is my ideal! Who needs lists anyway?