Haha, right up there with dental hygienists.
Looks like the engineers reacted in force in the comments below.....

While I was a little irritated with writer of the article, I was disappointed at how "whiny" the engineering community was in the article.

I can't recall ever seeing so many engineers go so vocal in any kind of media ... I think the dentist touched the nerve....

Hey!

I (could) have a low stress job!

But if I ever brought home a low stress paycheck from that supposed low stress job at the end of any given two week period, I'd end up with a high-stress home life.......

An urban and regional planner??? Low stress??? Really??? Wow, that writer has never been to a public hearing on even the local level.

It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.

ornerynorsk,

Maybe they should attend a few of the FEMA meetings where they explain to the populous why their flood insurance rates are going through the roof. Low stress hahahahahaha they would run and change their name for fear of retribution.

Maybe if I show that article to my primary care physician, he'll lighten up on the blood pressure comments...

It's posted on MSN - Microsoft. They can't get any F^&@#$% thing right anyway. Just look at Windows.

For 33 years and 8 companies, I've had different primary care physcians suggest I get into a lower stress occupation.

I always suspected engineering is bad for you. Ever since I saw this Amazon page:

• http://files.engineering.com/getfile.aspx?folder=80aeb41a-5f07-44fb-9382-74

Stupid article. I agree with most of the commenters on the site: writing for MSN is really zero stress, because you can write whatever crap you want without any research, and even be rewarded when it's a load of crap because it still does what it's meant to do: it drives a lot of traffic to the site!

How on earth could you ever rank engineering as less stressful than optometry? I had two highschool classmates who became optometrists. It took the same number of years to get their O.D. as it took for my co-op bachelors + accelerated masters, and to start they were making TWICE what I was making- as associates, without any of the stress of running a business. Once they decide to set up their own practice, they have the stress of being a small business owner, which is not inconsiderable- but if they run a good dispensary, they make huge margins on glasses which most people are too lazy to go elsewhere to obtain (and their company benefits make them even lazier). It's a very good gig.

The most stressful thing they have to do all day is send someone to the opthamologist so that THEY can tell the patient that they're going blind. The most harm you can cause is to prescribe contacts that don't fit right. They're prohibited in most locales from undertaking any procedure that is actually stressful.

Dull job? Repetitive? Perhaps- depends how much you like people. Terrible job for me, for sure, but it HAS to be one of the highest reward to stress ratio professions that exists!

Any engineer in a low stress job has never had a Client or worked for a team of MBAs.

"worked for a team of MBAs."

Star for that Snorgy, these days little of my stuff has direct life threatening potential so most of the stress comes from the employer & colleagues etc. not the actual job.

I never see our electric customers get upset when they don't have any elecrticty, so sure it is low stress.

I also don't wear my badge when I am off work.

Some of the happiest times of my career have been when I've had a lot of pressure. Some of the most miserable times of my career have also been when I've had a lot of pressure. I don't equate enjoying my job to the stress level.

I was once told to never suffer alone, call someone, because misery loves company.

On the other hand, there are many times, after you know your job, that you can almost do it with your eyes closed. Other people stress with it, and you have the answer. It just looks so low stress.

I think that we, as engineering professionals, typically put more stress on ourselves than any manager, MBA, client, or co-worker does. When we need to get to the right solution while facing those tight deadlines, the stress level rises internally. And all the while the various daily fires grow in the background.

High blood pressure? The doctors always say that you need to fix it with medication, because that seems to be their solution for everything. I think that something like retirement or becoming a writer for MSN would probably be a more effective remedy.

How many of you actually saw your blood pressure drop when you retired? Anybody?

Maui

www.EngineeringMetallurgy.com

My persistently elevated blood pressure dropped noticeably when I started hitting and kicking things (and people) on a regular basis.

... about a year ago, I started practicing taekwondo. The hitting and kicking of people is in a sparring match, not randomly on the street or jobsite