Best Job in America

A friend forwarded me an article from CNN about the best job in America. Guess what? The top place is Software Engineer which was considered based on salary level, stress level, Ease of entry, and Interest. Somehow they seem to think that you get to do a lot of creativity stuff in software eng but in reality, most don't have much room to do creative things. But one comment they got right, it is not a job for everyone, especially if you do not like programming.
It is quite amazing how good the pay is for fresh graduate software engineers are compared to other engineering jobs. Software engineers get a head start in pay level but eventually they will lead to about the same level of pay for the top jobs.

On the flip side, CNN ranks job like Architect and Computer Scientist very low since they start with low pay, and takes a long time to get the pre-requisite for the higher earning roles (Architecture license and PhD respectively). The latter one I totally agree. Since the .com burst the research side of computing is not what it used to be anymore. There are still a high supply of PhD graduates compare to the limited opportunities in the industry. The academic positions (assoc professor) are the hardest to get into as the turnovers are very low and new positions are very limited. Competition is very fierce and even if you get in, it will take you quite a long time to get tenture. But for those with the passion for research, the hurdles will be enjoyable.

What is not on the top ten list seems to be well respected jobs like Doctors, and Lawyers. I guess the stress level and the "creativity" components pull them down. The perception of the best job would probably depend on what you properities are important to you. If you want respect, status, power, then software engineers should not be anywhere near the first place. For those with interest in software development and a good salary, it is indeed a great place to be.