27 Jobs to Avoid If You Hate Stress
Do the most banal tasks keep you awake at night? Do high-pressure situations make your brain shut down? Does stress actually make you physically sick? If the answer is yes, then these jobs — compiled in a list by Business Insider — are positively not for you.
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Do you crack under pressure? Crumble when you're stressed?
If so, you'd be better off pursuing a career in science or education than you would in healthcare or law enforcement.
Using data from the BLS and O*NET OnLine, career information expert Laurence Shatkin, PhD, helped Business Insider rank the 767 occupations identified by the US Department of Labor by "stress tolerance."
The "stress tolerance" for each job is a rating on a scale from zero to 100, where a lower rating signals less stress. It measures how frequently workers must accept criticism and deal effectively with high stress on the job.
Here are 27 jobs that earned a stress tolerance rating of 93 or higher. If you're the type of person who thrives under pressure or can stay cool, calm, and collected in high-stress situations, these jobs may be perfect for you. If you're the crack-or-crumble type, you may want to avoid them:
- Police, fire, and ambulance dispatchers
Stress tolerance: 98.5
Average annual salary (2014): $39,410
- Nurse anesthetists
Stress tolerance: 98.2
Average annual salary (2014): $158,900
- Telephone operators
Stress tolerance: 98.2
Average annual salary (2014): $39,350
- Dancers
Stress tolerance: 97.0
Average annual salary (2014): N/A
- Obstetricians and gynecologists
Stress tolerance: 96.5
Average annual salary (2014): $214,750
- Surgeons
Stress tolerance: 96.2
Average annual salary (2014): $240,440
- Airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers
Stress tolerance: 95.2
Average annual salary (2014): $131,760
- Healthcare social workers
Stress tolerance: 95.0
Average annual salary (2014): $53,590
- Phlebotomists
Stress tolerance: 95.0
Average annual salary (2014): $31,890
- Broadcast news analysts
Stress tolerance: 94.7
Average annual salary (2014): $84,380
- Education administrators, preschool and childcare center/program
Stress tolerance: 94.2
Average annual salary (2014): $52,190
- Mental health counselors
Stress tolerance: 94.2
Average annual salary (2014): $43,990
- First-line supervisors of police and detectives
Stress tolerance: 94.0
Average annual salary (2014): $84,260
- Food and tobacco roasting, baking, and drying machine operators and tenders
Stress tolerance: 94.0
Average annual salary (2014): $29,410
- General internist
Stress tolerance: 94.0
Average annual salary (2014): $190,530
- Probation officers and correctional treatment specialists
Stress tolerance: 94.0
Average annual salary (2014): $53,360
- Chief executives
Stress tolerance: 93.8
Average annual salary (2014): $180,700
- Costume attendants
Stress tolerance: 93.5
Average annual salary (2014): $50,270
- Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses
Stress tolerance: 93.5
Average annual salary (2014): $43,420
- Oral and maxillofacial surgeons
Stress tolerance: 93.5
Average annual salary (2014): $219,600
- Child, family, and school social workers
Stress tolerance: 93.3
Average annual salary (2014): $46,180
- Correspondence clerks
Stress tolerance: 93.3
Average annual salary (2014): $36,240
- Funeral service managers
Stress tolerance: 93.3
Average annual salary (2014): $81,080
- Nurse midwives
Stress tolerance: 93.3
Average annual salary (2014): $97,700
- Psychiatric aides
Stress tolerance: 93.3
Average annual salary (2014): $28,430
- Respiratory therapists
Stress tolerance: 93.3
Average annual salary (2014): $58,490
- Umpires, referees, and other sports officials
Stress tolerance: 93.3
Average annual salary (2014): $33,400
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