Radiologists and lawyers have certainly been "optimal" in the sense that they've been highly lucrative careers over the past few decades. For some, that's all that matters.

But I agree -- as someone who's had a highly "illegible" career doing scientific research in startup settings, I've managed to find myself gainfully employed most of the time, but (a) it was never where I expected to wind up and (b) it's always a bit of "back to the drawing board" when it ends, because of the credentialing problem.

That being said I still self-identify as a scientist because that's what I "do" in the broader sense, and it identifies a broader project beyond just "the current job."