Sexiest job titles - 2008 edition

As if there isn't enough nonsense out there about jobs, Salary.com celebrated Valentine's Day by publishing a survey of the "sexiest job titles." The survey results were picked up on Boston.com.

Leading the pack, as it did when the survey was first conducted three years ago: firefighter.

Now, given the heroic nature of their work - combined with all that downtime that enables firefighters to keep beef-cake buff, this one is no surprise. Plus there's the whole "love a man in uniform" thing, not to mention all those cutie-pie calendars.

Number two was "personal trainer", which replaced "flight attendant," a title that fell off the top-ten list this year. (How anyone can think that a position that entails traipsing up and down a narrow aisle pushing a cart full of nips while wearing bad polyester clothing equates to a sexy job title is beyond me, and, apparently, beyond this year's survey respondents.)

"Personal trainer," on the other hand, has an up-close-and-personal element that makes it a logical choice for this list.

Number three both years fell to CEO.

Ah, the aphrodisiac impact of a big, fat salary accompanied by big, fat perks. Makes it a lot easier to overlook those nose hairs and receding hairline. Or maybe I've just met the wrong CEO's.

Bartender was ranked number four. ("It's quarter to three, there's no one in the place, except you and me....") Ah, the aphrodisiac impact of a nice, slurpy Cosmo poured by a moonlighting firefighter with a sympathetic smile.

Fifth place went to nurses - nice to see that respondents think caring can be sexy. And nice to see nursing beat out surgeon, which came out number eight, just ahead of cowboy. (And here I was thinking all these years that surgeons were cowboys.)

I find cowboy a very curious choice. Not that I know all that much about cowboying in this day and age - other than what I saw in Brokeback Mountain, where the cowboys were really shepherds, if you want to get technical - but I don't suppose that it's exactly the Marlboro Man anymore. I'm guessing it's more about driving around in trucks and ski mobiles, armed with cattle prods and walkie-talkies. But maybe it still is the strong, silent, man on a horse profession we grew up watching on TV. (Although, come to think of it, those cowboys never changed clothing from one season to the next, which I don't think would make them all that sexy.)

Pilot, photographer, and soldier also made the Top Ten list. Pilot and soldier: there's that man in uniform thing again. (I guess that goes for cowboys, too, given that the ones on TV never changed outfits, they were really wearing a uniform of sorts.) And for photographer, I'm assuming that folks were thinking about photojournalists, and not paparazzi, let alone the people who snap kids' "portraits" at Sears.

Needless to say, no job I ever held made it to the Top Ten. Waitress. Soda jerk. Customer complaint taker. Store clerk. Combat boot polisher. Office temp. Research assistant. Product manager. Marketer.

You'd think that at least Marketer would have stood a chance, but I guess it's just not quite as sexy as surgeon or cowboy.