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From the compensation experts at Salary.com
Some people have the job that we all envy. Their job is perceived
as exciting or alluring, maybe even sexy. Their job is glamorous.
Glamorous jobs come with a sort of personal fascination, one that
has young children aspiring to fly high as an airline pilot, or
make a career out of creating the perfect wedding as an event planner.
Television and movies glamorize certain jobs, from Donald Trump's
gig as a commercial real estate developer, to Debra Messing's role
as an interior designer on "Will and Grace." Other jobs
seem glamorous because they come with the opportunity to be seen
by millions, such as a reporter, or to make millions, such as an
investment banker.
We
posed the following question to more than 800 people: What jobs
do you think are the most and least glamorous? Salary.com then calculated
the median base pay of each job to find out what people cherish
more in a job, the glamour, or the money. Fashion designer ended
up ranking as the #1 most glamorous job, with percent of the vote.
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However,
the fact that one job is more glamorous than another doesn't necessarily
mean it pays more. The high demand for certain glamorous jobs may
even mean that the company will pay less, due to a large pool of
applicants. This creates a 'glamour discount' in the marketplace,
the potential that you will be paid a little less in return for
the opportunity to call yourself something glitzy like a fashion
designer.
The
jobs in the Salary.com glamour survey were given a glamour ranking
based on the percentage of votes they received. Then their salaries
were stacked up in the following chart. Click
on the glamorous job title or salary to see exactly what these high
profile workers are earning, on a national average.
|
High
Glam, High Pay
|
|
Job
Title
|
Glamour
Ranking
|
%
Of Vote
|
Salary
|
|
|
3
|
10.1%
|
|
|
|
4
|
9.7%
|
|
|
|
5
|
9.1%
|
|
|
|
7
|
7.2%
|
|
|
|
9
|
4.2%
|
|
|
High
Glam, Low Pay
|
|
Job
Title
|
Glamour
Ranking
|
%
Of Vote
|
Salary
|
|
|
1
|
31.2%
|
|
|
|
2
|
10.8%
|
|
|
|
6
|
7.2%
|
|
|
|
8
|
7.1%
|
|
|
|
10
|
3.4%
|
|
|
Source:
Salary.com January 2006
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On the
other side of the spectrum, there are those jobs that are regarded
as not so glamorous. The majority of American workers avoid the limelight
everyday in their offices, cubicles, and other workspaces. They perform
unglamorous tasks such as analyzing data, parking cars, or caring
for people's feet. Salary.com also took a look at the group of jobs
that were ranked as low on the glamour scale. Unglamorous jobs were
given an un-glamour ranking (#1 being the least glamorous). Their
salaries were then compared. As it turns out, some of these unglamorous
jobs pay high.
Click
on the unglamorous job title or salary to see exactly what these
low profile workers are earning, on a national average.
|
Low
Glam, High Pay
|
|
Job
Title
|
Un-Glamour
Ranking
|
%
Of Vote
|
Salary
|
|
|
5
|
8.1%
|
|
|
|
6
|
4.3%
|
|
|
|
8
|
2.3%
|
|
|
|
9
|
2.0%
|
|
|
|
10
|
2.0%
|
|
|
Low
Glam, Low Pay
|
|
Job
Title
|
Un-Glamour
Ranking
|
%
Of Vote
|
Salary
|
|
|
1
|
30.2%
|
|
|
|
2
|
24.2%
|
|
|
|
3
|
13.9%
|
|
|
|
4
|
9.0%
|
|
|
|
7
|
3.9%
|
|
|
Source:
Salary.com January 2006
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So if you're in the market for a new job this year, think twice
when you do it for the glamour. Do it for the money! Aspiring to
be an actuary or a tax attorney may not make you famous, but you
will earn a nice paycheck. And for those of us who have not yet
found the glamour or money in our careers, we can still dream of
landing a glitzy gig like reporter Carrie Bradshaw or architect
Mike Brady
Which
jobs do you think are most/least glamorous? Email us your vote poll@salary.com!
Salary.com
Survey Methodology
All
high and low glamour job salaries are as of Jan 1, 2006 and are
based on a 40-hour workweek (2080 hours per year). Salary.com chose
a sampling of jobs and asked over 800 Salary.com users in an online
survey to pick which job they thought was the most glamorous, and
then the least glamorous. Jobs were then assigned a glamour ranking
and scoped by national average median base salary.
-
By: Dan Malachowski,
Salary.com
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