When it comes to CareerCast.com’s most overrated jobs, high salary potential, excitement and glamour may be trade-offs for the stress, competition and industry volatility inherent in many of the most overrated professions.
These careers land in our 2015 most overrated jobs ranking not because they aren’t great, rewarding fields – they are. But applying the core criteria of the CareerCast.com Jobs Rated report, there’s perhaps more than meets the eye. Consider event coordinator, one of the fastest growing professions tracked by both the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Jobs Rated report. Nicole Matthews of San Diego-based event planning organization The Henley Company loves her line of work. She’s been in the field two decades and also helps ready a new generation of event coordinators as a professor at the University of San Diego and Mesa College.
But Matthews also knows there’s much pressure that goes into being a successful event coordinator.
“It’s ranked as one of the most stressful jobs every year,” she astutely points out. And, indeed, the 2015 Jobs Rated report ranks event coordinator as the seventh-most stressful profession.
Event coordinator shares this quality with other overrated jobs like advertising account executive, broadcaster, and architect.
“The ability to stay calm when everything is going sideways is important,” she says. “Event planners deal in emotion, so you have to be the calming force in the room.”
Taking on the stress of a bride and groom on their wedding, or a business hosting a seminar is a vital skill for event coordinators. Likewise, public relations manager lands in our ranking of most overrated jobs for the stress inherent in absorbing the stress of clients.
Having the wherewithal to manage stress is just one necessary quality to thrive in a fast-growing career like event coordinator or public relations manager. “Creativity, because we’re in a creative industry,” Matthews says, adding that being able to work as an intermediary is another key. “Communication is huge. As an event planner, you’re the center of the wheel.”
She points out that finding a specialty within the field is also crucial. When Matthews broke into the industry 20 years ago, she did so by interning and discovering a passion and talent for event coordinating. Now, universities have introduced event coordinating degree programs, fueled by a projected 33% growth outlook by 2022.
The proliferation of newcomers makes having a specialized niche important. Matthews advises those looking to get started in the field volunteer or take on internships with different event planning specialties to find the right fit. Another skill Matthews emphasizes, which holds true for other careers ranked among our most overrated, is the ability to fill in a client’s bare-bones ideas with the necessary details. Advertising account executives and management consultants both deal in turning the abstract into tangible action.
An advertising executive is charged with bringing in new business and communicating a customer’s message to consumers in an appealing way. Management consultants provide businesses and other organizations with blueprints to meet their goals.
Think of it like bridge-building for ideas – whereas another overrated job, architect, involves building of a much different kind.
Architect has a relatively high projected growth outlook, but the industry’s hiring depends on economic factors more than some other fields. As the recession demonstrated, construction is especially susceptible to marketplace volatility. Similarly, sales representatives can expect a job market dictated by sometimes unpredictable fiscal factors, adding to the inherent competitiveness of the profession.
The hiring outlook for attorneys is fair at 10%, but the job market is challenging. An April 2015 New York Times report finds recent law school graduates burdened with debt and taking on other work while searching for opportunities in the legal industry.
These are all factors to consider when evaluating our most overrated jobs. These can be terrific careers, but understand it’s not all glamour or fun.
1. Advertising Account Executive
High stress, competition for clients and for job opportunities make advertising account executive one of the most overrated careers, per the 2015 Jobs Rated report.