Many Americans kick off the new year with a vow to eliminate stress from their lives. But for some workers, stress is part of the job.
The most stressful jobs in 2018 may not seem all that similar on the surface, but they tend to share a handful of traits. Some require workers to put life and limb at risk, while others include relentless deadlines and competition.
While stressful isn’t typically a positive term, some workers thrive on that condition. Adrenaline junkies and the like might enjoy some of the occupations singled out by CareerCast.com as the country’s most stressful jobs, especially if they crave risk, working in the public eye and interacting with people.
“The stress and the pay may be deterrents for some people, but if you’re motivated with what the work is, you’ll still pursue it,” said Kyle Kensing, online content editor at CareerCast. Some workers make the choice to work in stressful jobs because “it’s about the impact they can have.”
The most stressful jobs were identified based on 11 factors, including travel, growth potential, deadlines and physical demands, the company said.
Americans who avoid stress don’t have to look far to find work without much of it. Such jobs range from pharmacy technician to hair stylist. But that’s not to say they don’t include any stress, Kensing said.
“Every career will face some stress,” he noted. “They are just comparitively less stressful. They aren’t in the public eye, they aren’t facing public scrutiny and the deadlines are typically longer term.”
Additional low-stress jobs include audiologist, university professor, medical records technician and compliance officer, CareerCast said. The least stressful job is diagnostic medical sonographer.
Read on to learn about the country’s nine most stressful occupations:
