user: Editor's note: CNN.com has a business partnership with CareerBuilder.com, which serves as the exclusive provider of job listings and services to CNN.com. Let's admit it: We all need to feel special sometimes. Well, if you're a firefighter, scientist or teacher, you should. After all, a new Harris poll indicates that plenty of Americans already think you are. Firefighters have one of the most prestigious jobs, according to a new Harris poll. U.S. adults, according to a recent survey by Harris Interactive, see firefighters, scientists and teachers as the most prestigious occupations while bankers, actors and real estate agents are the least prestigious occupations. The 2007 "Most Prestigious Occupations" poll measured the public perceptions of 23 professions. Participants were asked to rank these professions as having "very great prestige," "considerable prestige," "some prestige," or "hardly any prestige at all." They could also opt not to rank them or say they weren't sure. Sixty-one percent of adults consider firefighters to have "very great prestige," making this occupation the most prestigious on the list. Five other occupations were ranked as having "very great prestige" by over 50 percent of the adults surveyed: Scientists and teachers are considered very prestigious by 54 percent of adults, followed by doctors and military officers, who earn the prestige of 52 percent of Americans, and nurses, whom half of all adults consider very prestigious. Among the least prestigious occupations are real estate brokers, actors and bankers. Only 5 percent of survey participants ranked real estate brokers as very prestigious; 9 percent gave actors this label, followed by 10 percent for bankers. Accountants, entertainers, stockbrokers, union leaders, journalists, business executives and athletes all also ranked low on the list: Less than 20 percent of adults consider any of the aforementioned occupations to have "very great prestige." Consequently, five occupations are perceived to have "hardly any prestige at all" by at least a quarter of adults: stockbrokers (25 percent), union leaders (30 percent), entertainers (31 percent), real estate brokers (34 percent) and actors (38 percent). Harris Interactive started conducting its "Most Prestigious Careers" survey in 1977 and included only 11 professions. The most significant change since the survey's inception is that, with the exception of teachers and clergy, the perceived prestige of every one of the original 11 occupations has actually decreased over the years. The most drastic drop occurred among scientists, lawyers and athletes, whose prestige dropped by 12 points, 14 points and 10 points, respectively. Clergy members are considered prestigious by a percentage point more of the population than they were 30 years ago, while teachers' perceived prestige increased by 25 percent. Understandably, the year-to-year changes are less drastic. Scientists' perceived prestige hasn't changed in the last year, and despite a significant jump from 1977, teachers' perceived prestige has increased by only two percentage points. Bankers and athletes showed the most drastic drop in prestige: Both are down seven points from last year. The profession that saw the biggest increase in prestige from 2006 was that of farmers, who rose five points. While the survey measures the degree to which certain occupations are considered prestigious, it offers no indication as to why people consider certain occupations more prestigious than others. For more information and to see the complete results of the survey, visit http://www.harrisinteractive.com/. E-mail to a friend. Copyright CareerBuilder.com 2009. All rights reserved. The information contained in this article may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority.
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assistant: Sixty-one percent of Americans say firefighters have prestigious job. Teachers, scientists also get high marks in recent Harris poll. Bankers, athletes and journalists get low marks.