What the world wants to do for a living: Fascinating maps show how being a PILOT is the globe's No.1 dream job in 2024, from the UK to New Zealand, while Americans want to be flight attendants

A series of fascinating reworked maps have revealed the most popular jobs around the world - and being a pilot has topped the list as the globe's number one dream job in 2024.

On the main map - generated using the search analysis tool Ahrefs – countries have been coloured-coded to indicate the jobs their residents most want information about with a view to taking up that career.

The phrase 'how to become a pilot' was keyed in 50,000 times on the internet in January 2024, with the search top in 55 countries worldwide, including the UK, Spain, Ireland, New Zealand, Kenya, Somalia, India, Saudi Arabia and Japan.

According to the research, by career site Jobseeker, the second most popular job on the planet is flight attendant, which garnered 29,000 searches and is top in America, Canada, Mexico, and Brazil.

Being a model comes third (25,000 searches) globally and is the No.1 career choice in France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Egypt, Algeria, Iraq and Morocco.

The map above shows countries colour-coded to indicate their residents’ most-searched-for job titles, with the key indicating the 35 'dream jobs' used to collect the data. The information was collated by career site Jobseeker, using the search tool Ahrens. Pilot is the number one choice in 55 countries across all six inhabited continents

Pilot hits the number one spot in the UK, as it does in six other European countries. In central Europe, the notion of being a model dominates - it tops the list in 25 European countries including France, Italy, Sweden and Germany - and 45 countries worldwide

Jobseeker said: 'Europe was a key driver for this trend, with the continent's [prominence] as a fashion powerhouse likely influencing local people.'

The rest of the top five comprises psychologist (fourth, 17,000) – top in Australia and Bolivia – and 'influencer' (fifth, 17,000), top in Colombia, Venezuela and South Africa.

Doctor comes sixth in the ranking (15,000) – top in Uganda and DR Congo – teacher comes seventh (14,000, seventh) and is top in Belarus, Ukraine and Russia; while becoming a lawyer comes eighth (14,000). A legal career is the number one choice in Haiti and Liberia.

The rest of the top 10 is made up of firefighter (ninth, 14,000 and top in Chile) and 'entrepreneur' (13,000 and top in Guinea).

North America is clearly enamoured with a life of travel, as the dream job for USA, Mexico and Canada residents is flight attendant. The results are varied across South America, with no overwhelming favourites. Influencer, teacher and even football coach all feature

In Oceania's largest nation, Australia, the most popular career choice is psychologist. Neighbouring New Zealand's dream job is pilot, while flight attendant ranks in first place across four countries

Outside the top 10 list, the maps reveal that Montenegro bucks European trends, with people there daydreaming about life as a musician.

While Australians are curious about turning to psychology, across the islands of Oceania myriad jobs spike interest, from photographer in Samoa and the Cook Islands, to singer in New Caledonia and YouTuber in Fiji.

In South America, Argentineans are searching for details on how to become a chef, while Bolivians' dream job is photographer.

Peruvians, the research reveals, want to be teachers, the citizens of Paraguay football coaches, and Uruguayans are desperate to be YouTubers.

In Asia, becoming a pilot or model are the top choices, but not in China, where journalism is the No.1 career choice, while becoming a teacher is the dream role in Taiwan.

Afghanistan and Yemen also buck the trend in Asia – their citizens would most like to be writers.

In Africa, pilot dominates, but strong interest also registers for modern pursuits such as blogger and influencer

In general, Asians want to be pilots, but model, lawyer, and writer are also popular choices. In China, the dream job is journalist 

A spokesperson for Jobseeker said: 'Our dream jobs campaign has been incredibly exciting to develop, revealing key patterns and differences between what we view as a dream job.

'While the prospect of becoming a pilot is a strong theme across the study, the sheer variety of career paths on show indicates there is no one-size-fits-all approach to career satisfaction and fulfilment. We're uplifted to see more modern pathways such as influencers and YouTubers make the list. Who knows what people's dream jobs will be as professions evolve in the next 10, 20 and 50 years?

'Each country around the world has a unique viewpoint on what a dream career means.'

To compile the data, Jobseeker compiled a 'seed list' of 35 jobs commonly defined as dream careers. This list was then uploaded to Ahrefs and ranked by total global search volume.

Countries across the six populated continents were assessed against the 35 dream jobs using the search template 'how to become a [JOB TITLE]', with the most searched dream job for each country listed as the final result.

Data was collated across internet searches for January 2024.

For more information visit www.jobseeker.com/en/resume/articles/dream-jobs-around-the-world.