Serving as a Chief Compliance Officer with a broker-dealer or investment adviser is easily one of the most stressful jobs - for 2012 or any year.  It often involves a bottoms up fight with large producers and/or senior management, that might go something like this:

A broker-dealer President alerts the CCO that the firm is starting to sell a series of new tracking investment products whose values fluctuate in close proximity with the index of political mood swings for various emerging countries.  Best of all is our marketing plan.  The key selling point we want to drive home to customers is their once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to buy into the "destinations of their dreams," or the "destinations they've always wanted to visit."

Everyone who attends one of our free luncheon seminars will receive a marketing packet that includes a free destination travelog.  A free travelog also will go out with each sales confirmation - the travelog will match up with the country that's featured in the investment.  Now, just make sure we stay in compliance with securities rules and regulations.

A whopping 40% of American workers say their jobs are very or extremely stressful - according to the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health - which makes selected the 10 "Most Stressful Jobs" a rather tough task.  But that's where job-search portal CareerCast comes in.  Once again, they've crunched the statistics and come up with the Top 10 List.

"Not all jobs are created equal when it comes to stress levels.  Probably the one thing that’s overriding is the amount of control you have. People who have the least amount of control have the most amount of stress — they’re reacting to whatever is happening around them." -- Tony Lee, publisher of CareerCast.com and JobsRated.com.

Also, many of the selected jobs involved peril and significant hazard, whether it’s coming into contact with hazardous materials or having other people’s lives in your hands.

In all, CareerCast used 11 criteria to come up with its list: travel, income outlook/growth potential, deadlines, working in the public eye, competitiveness, physical demands, environmental conditions, hazards encountered, own life at risk, life of another at risk, and meeting the public.

Think your job is on the list? Continue reading the Top 10 Most Stressful Jobs for 2012.

10. Taxi Driver. Average annual income: $22,440 9.   Photojournalist. Average annual income: $40,000 8.   Senior Corporate Executive. Average annual income: $165,830 7.   Public Relations Executive. Average annual income: $91,810 6.   Event Coordinator. Average annual income: $45,260 5.   Police Officer. Average annual income: $53,540 4.  Military General. Average annual income: $196,300 3.  Airline Pilot. Average annual income: $103,210 2.  Firefighter. Average annual income: $45,250 1.   Enlisted Military Soldier. Average annual income: $35,580

For further details and to access other surveys, go to: [CNBC.com, 1/5/12]