CareerBuilder Survey Reveals the Scariest Jobs According to American Workers

Bomb squad technician tops list; miner, high school teacher, stunt person among the most frightening professions.

Pay cuts, presentations and high workload are among the things workers are most afraid of at work.

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Oct 27, 2011, 06:30 ET

CHICAGO, Oct. 27, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- What makes a job frightening? Imminent danger? Public speaking? Eerie surroundings? As Halloween weekend approaches, American workers voted on the scariest profession, choosing careers ranging from the death-defying (firefighter) to the potentially humiliating (stand-up comedian). The nationwide survey was conducted by Harris Interactive from August 16 to September 8, 2011 with more than 4,300 workers.

Among the scariest jobs are:

Bomb Squad Technician
High Rise Window Washer
Armed Forces
Miner
Police Officer
Alaskan Crab Fishing
Mortician
Firefighter
High School Teacher
Cemetery Worker
Exterminator
Stand-Up Comedian
Animal Control
Stunt Person
Politician

What are employees most afraid of at work?

While most Americans won't find themselves in any of the above careers, aspects of their own jobs can keep them on edge. More than a third of workers (36 percent) say layoffs are what they are most afraid of at work. Other work-related issues that may keep workers up at night include:

Pay cuts – 13 percent
Workload – 9 percent
Presenting in front of other people – 9 percent
Forced relocation – 4 percent
The boss – 3 percent

Survey Methodology

This survey was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Interactive© on behalf of CareerBuilder among 4,384 U.S. workers (employed full-time, not self-employed, non-government) ages 18 and over between August 16 and September 8, 2011 (percentages for some questions are based on a subset, based on their responses to certain questions). With pure probability sample of 4,384, one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/-1.48 percentage points. Sampling error for data from sub-samples is higher and varies.

About CareerBuilder

CareerBuilder is the global leader in human capital solutions, helping companies target and attract their most important asset - their people. Its online career site, CareerBuilder.com®, is the largest in the United States with more than 24 million unique visitors, 1 million jobs and 40 million resumes. CareerBuilder works with the world's top employers, providing resources for everything from employment branding and data analysis to recruitment support. More than 9,000 websites, including 140 newspapers and broadband portals such as MSN and AOL, feature CareerBuilder's proprietary job search technology on their career sites. Owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI), Tribune Company and The McClatchy Company (NYSE:MNI), CareerBuilder and its subsidiaries operate in the United States, Europe, Canada and Asia. For more information, visit www.careerbuilder.com.

Media Contact:
CareerBuilder
Ryan Hunt
773-527-6923
[email protected]
http://www.twitter.com/CareerBuilderPR

SOURCE CareerBuilder