The top 50 ideal jobs in the UK

If you could do any job that you’d like, what would it be? That’s the question HR software provider Ciphr asked to over 1,000 UK employees.

Scroll down for a list of the top 50 ideal jobs in the UK.

Ciphr took the findings from its survey and grouped similar job titles / answers together to compile a list of nearly 230 different jobs that people would like to do – their ‘ideal jobs’.

Here’s the 50 most popular jobs, along with their average salaries (where available):

Only two-fifths (40%) of the 'ideal jobs' included in Ciphr's top 50 list are jobs that both men and women said that they would like to do.

Mature workers are the most likely to prefer their current job over any other, while people at the start of their careers are the least likely to prefer their current job.

Two-thirds of the jobs that feature in the 18-to-24-year-olds' top 10 don't appear in any other age groups' top 10, including CEO, cabin crew, astronaut, dietician, engineer, influencer, marketer, property developer, psychologist, and therapist.

Ciphr conducted an online survey of 1,006 employed UK adults between 18-21 May 2022. Survey respondents were asked the following free-text question: If you could do any job you like, what would it be? They could write any answer they liked.

6% of people answered with variations of 'I'm unsure' or 'I don't know' and 7% didn’t specify a job – neither of these groups were included in the results.

Full-time salary data sourced from the Office for National Statistics (ONS):

• Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings: ASHE Table 14.7a (Annual pay – Gross), which was released on 27 June 2022 https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/earningsandhoursworkedallemployeesashetable14

Currency conversion figures compiled on 20 July 2022 (source: Google Finance)

Other sources:

• Elon Musk – https://finance.yahoo.com/news/top-10-highest-paid-ceos-110400063.html
• Cristiano Ronaldo – https://eu.usatoday.com/story/sports/2022/05/18/lionel-messi-lebron-james-highest-paid-athletes/9820690002
• JK Rowling – https://www.thetimes.co.uk/sunday-times-rich-list
• Bruce Springsteen – https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/highest-paid-musicians-2021-bruce-springsteen-jay-z-taylor-swift-1281654/taylor-swift-80-million-1282542/
• Diego Simeone – https://www.football-espana.net/2022/03/22/atletico-madrid-coach-diego-simeone-is-the-highest-earning-coach-in-european-football
• Pascal Soriot – https://news.sky.com/story/astrazenecas-ceo-is-the-highest-paid-executive-in-britain-12384837
• Dwanye Johnson – https://thelistwire.usatoday.com/lists/forbes-top-10-paid-entertainers-in-2022-dwayne-johnson-bruce-springsteen-peter-jackson-jay-z-kanye-west
• Scarlett Johansson – https://richupdates.com/highest-paid-actresses-in-hollywood/
• Charli D’Amelio – https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/tiktok-star-bags-17-5m-to-out-earn-top-ceos-lw2l7xrjf#
• Gordon Ramsey – https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/3298604/gordon-ramsay-net-worth-restaurants
• Lewis Hamilton – https://motorsporttickets.com/blog/f1-driver-salaries-how-much-formula-1-drivers-earn