Many management students aspire to be a Chief Executive Officer (CEO), even though top managers have more stressful jobs than most people. Of course, the job is not as stressful as a "solider guarding a base, a police officer chasing a mugger, or a firefighter running into a burning building." But, the top manager makes a lot more money than a soldier, police officer, or firefighter. Top Manager -- Corporate Executive (Senior) -- was rated as the 8 th most stressful job of 2012 by CareerCast.com from its Jobs Rated study . Corporate Executives are in charge of formulating the policies and strategies for their companies, while also directing the operations. Senior executives are expected to have an in-depth knowledge of many different fields at once. They face pressure to make company-wide decisions that can have far-reaching effects for the employees, including layoffs. To prepare for the study, researchers identified five general categories inherit to every job: environment, income, outlook, stress, and physical demands. The ranking system for stress included the 11 stress factors listed below. Each factor has a range of points with more points represent higher levels of stress. The total maximum points equal 97. The corporate executive (senior) stress score was 47.41. Travel, amount of 0-10 Growth Potential (income divided by 100) Deadlines 0-9 Working in the public eye 0-5 Competitiveness 0-15 Physical demands (stoop, climb, etc.) 0-14 Environmental conditions 0-13 Hazards encountered 0-5 Own life at risk 0-8 Life of another at risk 0-10 Meeting the public 0-8 Do you agree that top manager is a very stressful job? What criteria make the top manager's job desirable?