The utility scale will be simple and direct, using a five-point scale to rate each occupational area on a series of components and objectives related to overall job satisfaction. These components will include: potential for greater financial reward, job security in the given occupational field, social significance (if any) of the occupation, contribution to the community, involvement in engaging work, relative freedom from non-enjoyable work related tasks, level of autonomy and decision-making latitude, level of the average individual impact on a given company in the filed, and the opportunity for development/growth into related occupations (Kristensen & Westergaard-Nielsen 2006). This list of components is not exhaustive, but provides a strong foundation for the development of a more complete assessment of the utility derived from each specific occupational type applied to the utility scale.

Utility rankings would be determined by averaging the numeric responses (from one to five) to...

The range of outcomes would be between 1.00 and 5.00, with a higher number corresponding to higher utility. This scale also allows for a fair degree of precision in comparison (Kristensen & Westergaard-Nielsen 2006). Correspondence between dollars other measures of job satisfaction can also easily be obtained from this utility scale by taking separate averages of the financial and psychological/social component responses. These averages can be compared side-by-side in individual occupational decisions, or graphed to determine the relationship, if any, between earning potential and the willingness (for others, at least), to forego true satisfaction.
References

Careers in Business. (2009). Accessed 4 August 2009. http://www.careers-in-business.com/

Kristensen, N. & Westergaard-Nielsen, N. (2006). "Reliability of job satisfaction measures." Journal of happiness studies 8(20, pp. 273-92.