For health and happiness, these are the jobs graduates should apply for

Professional Wellbeing Index.
Teachers and lecturers are ranked top five in the Professional Wellbeing Index. Source: Shutterstock

A UK recruitment firm has discovered that of all professions, teaching is most likely to promise overall wellbeing.

Silver Swan Recruitment recently announced the findings of its Professional Wellbeing Index (PWI), which rated jobs according to how beneficial they are to health and happiness. First, it scored common jobs from one to five across 11 criteria. Then, it obtained an overall PWI score for each profession.

The scored criteria include annual salary, working hours, the chance of automation, physical activity, and level of autonomy.

Let’s take a look how these factor into the five best jobs on the index.

1. Teacher

Who would have thought that this high-stress career would be one of the best jobs? Although teaching is regarded as a noble profession, teachers are known to be overworked and underpaid.

But let’s look at the bigger picture: teachers work reasonable hours and are constantly exposed to fresh air and physical activity. They get to plan and execute their lessons and tasks from day-to-day. On top of that, there is a very low chance of this profession being automated soon (one percent), which translates to great job security.

2. Personal trainer

Personal trainers have immense freedom over their hours and clients. They can work at a gym, park or even at home. Combine all this autonomy with the relatively low risk of automation (nine percent), and you get one of the best jobs of the 21st century.

Additionally, a personal trainer’s work requires them to keep active and spend lots of time outdoors. The latter increases their exposure to fresh air, which contributes to high endorphin levels and an alert mind.

Best jobs

Playing music professionally requires years of practice – and in most cases, extensive education. Source: Shutterstock

3. Musician

This profession scored highly in terms of salary, working hours, risk of automation and level of education required. Playing music professionally requires years of practice – and in most cases, extensive education.

However, musicians can face immense time pressure when performing, recording or scoring gigs, which loops back to the effort that goes into honing this skill.

Besides that, most musicians work in safe environments, though they may not get lots of fresh air or physical activity (unless you’re a drummer!)

4. Business owner

Autonomy over decisions? Check. High salary? Check. According to Silver Swan, business owners earn an average of £97,708 every year, which is four times higher than the salary of an average teacher.

Granted, their decisions have serious consequences, which can make everyday tasks stressful. Perhaps the decision-making factor also contributes to this profession’s low chance of automation.

5. Lecturer

Lecturers are teachers with better salaries and hours, but they also require a higher level of education. Besides that, their profession places them in classrooms and seminar halls without much fresh air or movement.

It can also be stressful to deliver accurate information and insights at all times since lecturers guide and grade the education of adults.

With this in the fifth spot, teaching roles make up two of the top five best jobs, which suggests it’s not just one of the noblest professions to get into, but also the most rewarding.

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