Professions we're passionate about. And those we're not.

Much of who we are is tied up in what we do in the hours from nine to five (and often way beyond). Asking someone what they do for a living is often the first question you ask them; right after 'what's your name?'. So what are people's gut reactions when you tell them what you do?

Synovate conducted a seven-market survey in October 2008, covering 5,500 respondents in Brazil, Canada, China, France, Malaysia, South Africa and the United States (US). We asked people what makes for an admirable job, which professions they trust (or not), who's overpaid - and even which profession they would prefer to marry. Here's what we found.

We care for caring careers

There are many things that make a job admirable... it may help others, it may make a great deal of money, it might have required years of dedicated study... but our respondents were asked to choose just one characteristic that makes a profession the most admirable. (We encourage people to prioritise.) So who do we love...?

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Trust me, I'm a doctor

And, mostly, we do. 86% of respondents trust those in the medical profession. Although teachers were top of the class when it comes to trust, with an overall 87% trusting people in the education profession. People in the science and technology fields were also largely trusted (86%) as were homemakers (84%). But those of us in the marketing field (including this writer) may be a little disturbed by results showing the professions we do not trust.

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Who needs more moolah?

If you're like most people, the answer is you. Whatever you do for a living. But we asked our respondents which of the professions under discussion were the most underpaid. Of course there are variations across markets but the overall poorest professions were perceived to be homemakers (27% said this, which is not a huge surprise given the pay packet!), tradespeople (24%) and educators (14%). We also asked who was overpaid.

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Love me, love my job

The Synovate professions survey also explored how people feel about their own profession, as well as how important it is to partners and parents.

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Move over Clooney...

It turns out you can top all the 'sexiest' person lists in the world and still not be marriage material (although, to be fair, we suspect George Clooney himself might just agree!). More respondents would choose to marry trades people, lawyers, business people, in fact just about anyone... than would choose to marry actors or musicians.

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About the Synovate professions survey

This In:fact survey looked at professions and covered just over 5,500 respondents in seven markets around the world – Brazil, Canada, China France, Malaysia, South Africa and the United States (US). The study was conducted in October 2008 using online, telephone and face-to-face methodologies.