Survey: 'Soldier' Ranked as One of Britain's Most Unappealing Jobs

Choosing a military career as a soldier is deemed to be among the top 5 least 'desirable' jobs in the UK, wedged between life as a traffic warden and a career cleaner - only 13% of the British public see a lifetime spent in the Army as 'desirable' - according to a recent YouGov poll.

The poll, detailed below, also distinguishes between gender with more interesting comparisons revealed therein. Although the public are not likely to choose 'Soldier' as a preferable career, the gender difference is revealing, with men 14% more likely than their female counterparts to want to be soldiers in the first place.

In response to the question:

"Generally speaking, please say whether you would or would not like to do each of the following for a living.”

The majority of respondents answered that a life in academia was the most enticing. However, the structure of the question is misleading in itself. It's not to say that literary jobs are the most desirable, only that if this academic option was forced on to the individual, the majority of Britons ceded that it would be just one acceptable choice of multiple other options.

A former British serviceman had this to say:

Perhaps there is a different perspective on this, however. The recent YouGov poll poses some intriguing questions not least the idea that 87% of the population wouldn't want to serve in the UK Armed Forces. A worrying trend perhaps?

Well maybe not. Is it any surprise that many of the population don't like the idea of risking life and limb, that they object to the idea of adhering to military discipline, that a rainy windswept hillside in Wales isn't their ideal office, that 6 months underwater patrolling the dark and dangerous oceans isn't their idea of a 9-5 job... Well no, of course not.

The military are a hardy, dynamic and professional force played in some of the most dangerous locations on earth, whilst simultaneously exhibiting the high moral standards that many regard as a wistful pipe dream from a bygone era. The Armed Forces and what they accomplish are held in the highest regard because most people realise that they can't or won't be able to do it.

This poll was not about how much you respect the Armed Force, it was about whether you would desire working there. As those who serve say, "It's not a profession, it's a vocation" and you have to live it and breathe it to be able to lay your life on the line for your country, your family and your friends fighting alongside you.

In that respect, is 13% quite high?