Jobs That Are Overrated—And Those That Get No Respect!

It may seem glamorous to be a slick advertising executive like Jon Hamm on the TV show “Mad Men” or like Michael Douglas’s power broker character in the movie “Wall Street.”

Surgeons
Wavebreakmedia | Agency Collection | Getty Images
Surgeons

But times change and the professions that once seemed alluring may not be so glamorous now.

Job listing and advice site CareerCast.com has come out with their annual list of the most overrated jobs — and the most underrated jobs.

We’ve all been to a restaurant we’d deem “overrated” or met that guy in the office we’d call overrated. So what makes a job overrated?

“Poor outlook for future growth, long hours, stress and a multitude of new candidates entering the industry make it especially challenging to break into many of our overrated careers,” said Tony Lee, publisher of CareerCast.com.

On the flip side, the underrated jobs are those that get no respect — even though given their outlook and other factors, they probably should.

These are the jobs that you usually don’t hear a mother proudly say, “My son is a ________!” or see Hollywood glamorize one of these underrated jobs.

“You never saw a movie about a civil engineer or a TV show starring a computer-systems analyst!” quipped Tony Lee, publisher of CareerCast.com.

Here are the 12 Most Overrated Jobs for 2012 — and the 12 Most Underrated .

More Workplace Antics From CNBC.com:

Email us at ponyblog@cnbc.com or drop a line in the comment box below.

More from The Pony Blog: ponyblog.cnbc.com