New Zealand's Most Trusted Professions 2010

1. Firefighting Photo: iStock

19

Like this Slideshow?Vote it Up!

In an order unchanged from last year, firefighters, ambulance officers, pilots, nurses and doctors top the most trusted professions list. “People we literally trust with our lives,” says Agnew. You may have never needed a firefighter or ambulance officer, but you know they’re there should you ever need to dial 111. Filling out the rest of the Top 10 are those keeping us, our kids and pets in order: pharmacists (6), vets (7), the armed forces (8), police officers (9) and teachers (10). And in the wake of the domino-like collapse of finance companies, financial planners have slipped three spots to 32. We now trust them less than we do taxi drivers (29), domestic cleaners (30) and fast-food servers (31). The bottom spots are manned by those seen as self-interested, plain annoying – or both. We trust politicians, less than we do real estate agents (36), car salesman (37) or sex workers (38). “I’m surprised to see sex workers ranked so low,” says Agnew. “Of all the professions they seem most likely to offer exactly what they claim to.”
At the bottom of the heap are telemarketers – after all, who can trust someone who makes us burn the dinner?

1. Firefighters
2. Ambulance officers
3. Pilots
4. Nurses
5. Doctors
6. Pharmacists
7. Veterinarians
8. Armed forces
9. Police officers
10. Teachers
11. Judges
12. Childcare providers
13. Dentists
14. B Bus/train drivers
15. Scientists
16. Farmers
17. Chefs
18. H Hairdressers
19. Psychologists/counsellors
20. B Baristas
21. Plumbers
22. Accountants
23. Mechanics
24. Roof insulation installers
25. Religious ministers
26. Weather forecasters
27. Charity collectors
28. Lawyers
29. Taxi drivers
30. Domestic cleaners
31. Fast-food servers
32. Financial planners
33. CEOs
34. Tow truck drivers
35. Journalists
36. Real estate agents
37. Car salesmen
38. Sex workers
39. Politicians
40. Telemarketers

*Reader's Digest commissioned independent research firm The Leading Edge to survey a representative sample of 500 New Zealand adults. They were asked to rate how much they trusted
85 well-known people on a scale of one to ten. They were all asked to rate professions and everyday relationships.

Click here for: New Zealand's Most Trusted People 2010
Click here for: New Zealand's Most Trusted Brands 2010