The job search Web site Careercast (I hadn't heard of it either) has compiled a list of the best jobs. Mathematician is number one, while lumberjacks come in at 200.
The restaurant industry, and hospitality in general, does not rank high. The only hospitality job in the top 100 is hotel manager at 56.
You have to go to the bottom three-fourths of the list before you find a restaurant gig.
Servers are ranked as having the 154th best job, one below auto-body
repair and two above surgeon. Bartenders are ranked 163rd, beating out undertakers and dishwashers, who come in at 178.
The methodology for determining these rankings basically boils down to pay,
stress and hours. Having lots of the latter two are seen as bad, which
is why surgeons rank below servers yet parole officers are in the top
20. Strangely, chefs aren't listed but one can assume between the
low pay, long hours and high stress they wouldn't be ranked high.
It's
stupid to try to refute lists like this but I'm going to anyway. This
list is compiled for boring people. Who the hell doesn't want some
stress in their job? I'm not saying air-traffic-controller-type stress (sadly
not listed) or that of a nuclear decontamination technician (ranked 185). But stress is part of being
human.
Stress makes us feel alive, especially in a
kitchen. Gordon Ramsey described working in a busy kitchen as being like a massive erection with crack sprinkled on top.
I've harped on the monotony that restaurants can bring
but oh man, when a restaurant is cooking, there's no other place to be. When I was talking with Daniel Hipsher yesterday, he said that if you
work in a kitchen when you're really young (like before 15) it gets in
your blood and you can never get it out. I doubt the same is true about
parole officers.
--By Owen Morris
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