The Most Respected Jobs And 5 Ways To Gain Respect No Matter What Your Work

Work can be challenging and stressful, but it can also be an important way to feel valued. New data shows what matters most to being respected in your career—and suggests how to impact on how you’re valued in your work. It also shows which jobs are most esteemed, and whether others would like to do them.

People want to make a difference, and most have a strong instinct to matter—to family, friends and community. Work is a fundamental way people express their talents and contribute their skills, and all work has dignity, no matter what it is—because it is an avenue for interaction and reinforcement of our interdependence.

So where does respect come from? And what professions garner the most respect? And how can you be more respected in your career, no matter what you do?

What Generates Respect

According to research by Zety, the greatest respect for people and jobs comes from making contributions to others. Specifically, people reported the following factors were most important to respecting a profession:

• Caring for others – 87% of people who view this factor as important
• Trustworthiness – 86%
• Being essential to society – 85%

People also respect careers based on what they require of the person doing the work:

• High level of intellect required – 80% of people view this factor as important
• High level of education – 72%
• High level of physical ability required – 69%

Interestingly, at the bottom of the list were factors like high income, level of prestige or having power over others. While these may be traditional ways of thinking of esteem, they are actually less important to career respect than having a positive impact on the community.

What Professions Are Most Respected and Desired

The way people perceive work impacts on the professions they respect, and certain jobs seem to garner more value. The professions people respect most are these:

• Scientists, farmers and doctors – 83% of people respect these professions
• Firefighters and teachers – 82%
• Nurses – 81%
• Members of the military – 80%

But the jobs people respect aren’t necessarily the ones they want to perform. In particular, people say they would like to do these jobs:

• Scientist – 71% of people report they would like to be a member of this profession
• Entrepreneur – 70%
• Farmer – 70%
• Teacher – 69%
• Doctor – 66%
• Software developer – 66%
• Nurse – 63%

The least respected jobs? Politicians and social media influencers. And the jobs people are least likely to want for themselves are politician or reality television star.

Generating Respect No Matter What You Do

No matter what you do however, you can generate respect in your work. The concept of contributive justice says everyone should have the chance to do great work to serve the community—and feel valued. Here are five ways to boost your feelings of esteem:

Be Confident

Know that no matter what you do, you are making a contribution. If you show up and do the small thing that serves your colleague or your customer, you are making a difference. The concept of ikigai describes your reason to wake up in the morning—and your reason for working doesn’t have to be grand. Even the most ordinary efforts contribute to those around you. Both doctors and garbage collectors reduce the likelihood of disease, and both data-entry professionals and strategists provide for analysis of how to succeed in the future.

Do Great Work

One of the hallmarks of a true professional is when they understand all aspects of their work and are willing to roll up sleeves and do the less glamorous tasks. Show up, follow up and follow through on all aspects of your work. Know you have an influence on others around you, so perform brilliantly, in the mundane aspects of your work as well as the more interesting parts. It’s rare to find a job where you love every aspect, but for greater happiness, seek as much alignment as possible between what you love to do and what you have to do in your work.

Express Empathy

One of the primary ways to feel you matter is to know how your work connects with others. Social wellbeing requires cohesion and solidarity which is boosted by recognition of our mutual dependence. Get to know colleagues, ask questions and seek to understand their work, their challenges and the problems they’re seeking to solve. When you know and appreciate more about your coworkers, you can in turn improve your understanding of how your work connects with theirs—and feel a greater sense of value based on the relationships of your work to each other.

Seek New Learning

Another way to generate respect in your work is to develop your skills. Be curious, seek learning opportunities and expand your talents so you can contribute in evolving ways over time. Happiness is significantly corelated with learning, so you’ll enhance your sense of joy, but you’ll also expand the ways you can contribute. Acquire the new software skills to make you more efficient at your tasks. Develop your knowledge of design thinking methodologies to help you innovate, or improve your project management skills so you can apply a deeper understanding of how tasks integrate across the value chain.

Offer to Help

Look for opportunities to contribute outside of your current expertise. Raise your hand to join the new initiative or jump into the high-priority project to solve a key problem. People want to work with others who are engaged, so you’ll generate respect when you volunteer to take on things which interest you and which expand your perspectives.

In Sum

Ultimately, people need the opportunity to contribute—no matter what work they do. Of course, people all need down time and distance from work, but likewise, people need to express their talents and have recognition and validation for what they do.

Be confident in your own contributions and value your colleagues’ efforts—and appreciate the responsibility you have for the community as a whole. These connections will bring you—and others—greater happiness and fulfillment.