Computer systems analysts make a median salary of $80,000 and they enjoy a projected employment growth rate of 22% between 2010 and 2020, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The job is also relatively low stress but at the same time, intellectually challenging. It involves little contact with the public and doesn’t require employees to breathe in toxic fumes or lift loads of 50 lbs. or more. Those factors land computer systems analyst, for the second year in a row, in the number one slot on CareerCast.com’s list of most underrated jobs.
Second on the list, also with a median salary of $84,000 and a projected employment growth rate of 36%: Veterinarians. Vets often prefer animals to humans. The job gives them a chance to interact with their favorite creatures, and in many cases, cure animals of disease. But vets spend much of the day on their feet, sometimes have to work outside in bad weather and must absorb the stress that comes with the illness and death of beloved animals, all of which keeps the job from making the top of the list.
Earlier this year, CareerCast, the five-year-old Carlsbad, Calif. jobs website, released its annual list of America’s ten “best” and ten “worst” jobs, after evaluating 200 professions using five core criteria: pay, hiring outlook, work environment, stress and physical demands. Within those categories, there are more than 100 sub-criteria, like degree of confinement in the work environment and income growth potential. (My colleague Jacquelyn Smith covered the last best and worst lists here.) The data come from the BLS, the Census Bureau, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and an array of private compensation surveys, trade association studies and state statistics.
Two years ago, with unemployment persistently high and pressure on politicians to improve the jobs picture, Tony Lee, CareerCast’s publisher, says he and his team figured it was time to tap its data pool and release a list of jobs that may be unglamorous but that show strong employment growth potential, good salaries and low stress levels. While they don’t pay the six- or seven-figure compensation of hedge fund managers or heart surgeons, these underrated jobs allow workers to enjoy a decent standard of living, low stress, and a relatively bright employment outlook. To distinguish the underrated jobs from the “best” jobs, CareerCast used what Lee admits is a subjective set of observations, having worked on the best and worst jobs list for 18 years. He and his team took those jobs they believe most people see as undesirable, and then gave extra weight to compensation, employment outlook and stress levels.
Lee and his team used a similar method and put out a list of most overrated jobs. You can read that story here.
Lee has been working on the best and worst jobs data since 1995, when he, Wisconsin publisher Les Krantz and two statistics professors from the University of Wisconsin, started putting together the report for CareerJournal.com, a now-defunct site formerly run by The Wall Street Journal. After CareerJournal shut down, Lee teamed up with CareerCast and continued the project. (A link to the top jobs methodology is here.)
CareerCast’s most underrated job, computer systems analyst, also made its top ten best jobs list, at No. 10. Otherwise, there is no overlap between most underrated jobs and the site’s rating of best jobs.
One caveat about this list and every other “most this” or “most that” jobs list: No matter how many metrics the raters use, the list makers’ judgment may be the most important element. Another website, CareerBliss, puts out a list of “happiest” and “unhappiest” jobs. (My colleague Jacquelyn covered it here.) This year there is no overlap between that list and CareerCast’s underrated roster.
Lee says he and his team make a serious effort to rate each job, using extensive data over a long period of time. Lee also admits that his starting point for the underrated and overrated lists is not objective. “They’re based on statistics but we make our subjective decisions using the data,” he sayas. “We found some interesting surveys on job satisfaction. They help you realize things like the fact that attorneys, by and large, are unhappy in their jobs. Surgeons often burn out after 20-25 years in daily surgery.”
One question I had about this year's list: How could Emergency Medical Technician rate in the top 12 (at No. 6)? I know three people who wanted to become EMTs but found that the pay was too low and the opportunities for advancement negligible. Lee insists that this is a profession on the rise, as municipal budgets come back and demand increases. "It's basic supply and demand," he says, "and for all the other things we measure, the satisfaction level in this profession is really high. People do it because they love it, not because they need the job." I'm still skeptical. I don't think most EMTs are living on trust funds. But I hope Lee is right about job and pay growth.
At the least, these lists are fun to read. I wouldn’t want to be a computer systems analyst or a veterinarian (sick animals would make me too sad and I don’t do well with the sight of blood) or for that matter a plumber or an electrician (No. 10 and 11 on the list) but I’m intrigued that Lee and his team believe those jobs are underrated. At the least, if you are considering one of these professions, know that the pay and hiring outlook may be better than you think and the stress level not as taxing as you expect.
