Just in time for Halloween, CareerCast.com has unveiled its list of the 10 scariest jobs of 2010. See our slideshow of the scariest jobs.
And the scariest job is… forensic entomologist. What exactly does a forensic entomologist do? They use insect knowledge in crime-related legal cases, like analyzing bug activity in a cadaver to determine a person’s time of death or if the body has been moved. If you’ve seen the movie “The Silence of the Lambs,” you might have a good sense of what exactly the job entails.
“It’s no surprise that Forensic Entomologist came out on top,” said Tony Lee, publisher of CareerCast.com, in a press release. “Forensic Entomologists carve up cadavers in search of crime scene clues, but with a unique twist – their specialty is not the bodies themselves, but the insects living inside the bodies. Forensic Entomologists can determine the time or place a crime occurred based on the type of beetles, flies or maggots living inside the victim.”
The second scariest job of 2010? Miner. The dangers of mining were recently highlighted with the rescue of the 33 Chilean miners who were trapped underground for 69 days. Among the fears involved in mining are claustrophobia, achluophobia (fear of darkness), and mysophobia (fear of germs or dirt).
And rounding out the top three is the job of broadcast tower technician, who has to climb thousands of feet for routine maintenance of broadcast towers — often free climbing.
[RELATED: Reeling in commercial fishing dangers]
CareerCast determined the list by using phobia rankings based on data from Merck Medical Library and the Library of the Surgeon General.
See the full list below:
The top 10 scariest jobs of 2010
- Forensic Entomologist
- Miner
- Broadcast Tower Technician
- Bomb Squad Technician
- Field Epidemiologist
- CTS Decon Technician
- Pharmaceutical Trial Subject
- Bush Pilot
- Cryonics Technician
- Comedian
Follow Marketplace’s coverage of job-related stories.
There’s a lot happening in the world. Through it all, Marketplace is here for you.
You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible.
Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.
