Top 10 Most Stressful Jobs. Really?

I just read an interesting article on RealtorMag, (by By Melissa Dittmann Tracey), about stressful jobs, and I must say that I was surprised to see the job of a "real estate agent" was considered to be one of the most stressful jobs you can have.

This was according to CareerCast's 2010 Jobs Rated report, which analyzed the stress level of 200 professions.

While I agree that stress certainly comes with the "job", to be ranked the number 10 most stressful profession made me stop and think.

Do Realtors deal with more stress than say, a Wall Street broker on the Trading Floor, or a Second Grade teacher taking care of 20 little "angels"?

Sure, as the article says, competition among real estate agents did rise when the economy softened, and this was reportedly a major factor in landing agents in the top 10 of the most stressful jobs report.

In working out the stress rankings, CareerCast accounted for such factors as work environment, competitiveness, and job risk.

I agree with the part of the report that noted: "Real estate agents and brokers work long, erratic hours, spending much of their time showing properties to clients. They must be extremely independent, and able to handle sales quotas and deadline pressures."

I minimize the number of hours that I spend showing properties to buyers by:
(1) Conducting a buyer interview to guage among other things, the buyer's motivation,
(2) Only taking out buyers who have been pre-approved by a lender, and
(3) Researching homes and asking questions to the listing agent before showing the home.

What agent can honestly say there isn't stress involved with a lot of closings? Sure there is, but a good Transaction Coordinator is worth her weight in gold, (mine is worth her weight in diamonds!), and deadlines passing are very seldom an issue for me.

Do I lead a stress-free life? Certainly not, but a lot of my stress is eliminated by planning my work, and working the plan! It's a help if the other people involved in a transaction are well-organized and on top of their game, but when they're not, stress often follows.

I'm thankful that Realtors aren't listed in the first 9 positions in the Stressful Jobs report - that would be stressful!

John D. Mayfield wrote a good "5 Ways to Handle Stress" article. Check it out.