Most Stressful Jobs on the Planet
Work related stress is soaring amongst employees all over the world and Stress Management Interventions has become an overused term. It’s true that no matter what job you are engaged in, it will definitely involve some amount of stress, but it’s also true that some jobs are particularly more stressful than the rest. These are the jobs we are going to focus on in the present article.
The career website CareerCast.com published its annual list of best and worst jobs for the year 2013 some time back along with a list of the 10 most and least stressful jobs. But firstly, the ranking was based wholly on data obtained from the Bureau of Labour Statistics and other government agencies of the USA. And secondly, they clubbed together jobs of all levels ranging from seamstress and lumberjack to military general and senior corporate executive. But here, apart from our focus being solely on the stress level of jobs in India, we will also restrict ourselves to careers that a fresh graduate may pursue instead of punching both blue-collared and white-collared jobs together.
1. Military personnel
No matter which list you refer to, jobs in the military always feature amongst the top three in terms of stress level. Not only does a life in the military involve life risks, but it also involves staying away from your family for long periods of time which can shoot up stress levels to a large extent. The fact that the pay is also not that exorbitant doesn’t help either.
2. Pilot
Pilots have always been heard complaining about the lack of rest and non-compliance of Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) guidelines by the airlines companies. Besides, the fact that the lives of a hundred passengers depend upon them makes a pilot’s job all the more stressful.
3. Reporter
Irrespective of whether we are talking about a newspaper reporter or a T.V. journalist, we have to admit that there are very less jobs as stressful as this. Not only is there a rat race to report important stories first what with all the cacophony over “Breaking News” these days, but the travel requirements and increasing competition from freelancers and online journalists may also put off a lot many people off these jobs.
4. Coach
No matter in which part of the world you are in, a coach’s job is extremely stressful considering that they are the ones who have to face the music if the individual sportsman or the team falters besides having to fight a constant urge to get on the field and do the job themselves (refer to the football coaches shouting from the sidelines).
5. Chef
If watching the episodes of Masterchef has sown the urge within you to go for a career which will test your culinary skills, make sure also to notice the tremendous amount of stress the participants are always in to cook a palatable dish within the deadline. Considering that this is just a show, imagine having to deal with restless customers and sloppy subordinates in the real world.
6. Stockbroker
If you are perplexed by the recent stock market crashes, try to put yourself into the shoes of the good old stockbroker who has operate in the most volatile market imaginable. They have to be on their feet all the time and as one wrong decision may make a prince or a pauper of a person engaged in stock trading and the clients will be at your throat if you take one wrong step.
7. Social worker
This is one of the most thankless jobs there ever was considering that you are settling for a career with minuscule pay which requires a great deal of sacrifice and guts to fight for the cause you believe in. And with a considerable number of self-professed social workers emerging into the limelight every day, whose sole aim is to gain some TRP and work for everything but the society, social workers are also beginning to be looked upon questionably with each passing day. The problems grow manifold in third world and developing countries.
8. Counsellor
Counsellors can be of various types ranging from marriage counsellors to student counsellors. But irrespective of what they are counselling their clients on, listening to other people’s problems and sorrows all day long can leave the chirpiest individuals depressed and may create within them an urge to go for counselling themselves. No wonder the stress level associated with this job is sky high.
9. Air traffic controller
While Mr Pilot who featured before on this list has to deal with one aircraft and the passengers on it, an air traffic controller has to deal with a hundred planes and the lives of the thousands of passengers travelling in them depends upon the air traffic controller. Even a minor lapse on his part or an ambiguous/unclear instruction may spell doom.
10. Call centre executive
With the advent of BPOs, call centre executives became a hot breed in countries like ours. But while the quick buck and less stringent qualification requirements attracted the youth to this career, the night shifts and ill-mannered customers meant a lot of them ran for another job in a jiffy. The extremely large amount of cases of depression and family discords that that haunt the lives of call centre executives will give you an idea of the amount of stress that these guys have to deal with.
Image sources:
1. Military personnel:
2. Chef: http://www.celebratelifetv.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Zigi-Ozeri-Chef1.jpg
3. Call centre executive:
http://callmestaffing.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/iStock_000006325804Medium.jpg
