10 Jobs That Just Don't Pay

Findings confirm it's good to be nerdy

(NEWSER) - How desirable is your daily grind? A new study aims to answer that question with a list ranking the best and worst jobs according to five factors: “environment, income, employment outlook, physical demands, and stress,” the Wall Street Journal reports. In the end, the CareerCast list suggests, nerds rule. Best jobs:

1. Mathematician
2. Actuary
3. Statistician
4. Biologist
5. Software engineer

DC tops search engine's list

(NEWSER) - Washington, DC is the easiest city in the country to land a job, says job-search site Juju.com, which ranked cities by comparing the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ figures on unemployed workers to the number of job postings on Juju itself. The site finds 1.87 “unemployed individuals per advertised job” in the District. More»

Gigs that straddle the line between necessary and absurd

(NEWSER) - From Parisian sewer guides to a coconut safety engineer in St. Thomas, some travel industry jobs straddle the line between necessary and absurd. Travel and Leisure highlights some of the strangest.

1. Tourism ambassador, Japan. Diplomacy never looked so soft and cuddly after Japan appointed elder statesfeline Hello Kitty for PR duty in Hong Kong and China.

Smelling your armpits, admitting you're headed to the bar are not ways to get a job

(NEWSER) - Do research, don't lie, be professional: Interview tips seem basic enough to follow, but CNN reports the many job seekers have committed serious gaffes we all should learn from:

• Asking interviewer to leave office so you can take a call
• Admitting you may quit job if your uncle dies and inheritance kicks in
• Requesting a ride home
• Smelling your armpits

(NEWSER) - Don't shoot yourself in the foot in your next job interview. A Fortune poll of hiring managers uncovered some anecdotes about the dumbest pitches they'd heard: The interviewee:

1. "...told me to hire him because he was allergic to unemployment."
2. "... said that we should hire him because he would make a great addition to our softball team."
3. "...said he should get the job because he had already applied three times and he felt that it was now his turn to be hired."