In a ranking of the top careers based on employee satisfaction, just one career in the top 10 has a six-figure salary associated with it, according to a survey by Vancouver-based career search organization Sokanu.
The survey, which collected data from 46,000 global employees who ranked a list of 150 careers on a scale of one to five in levels of satisfaction, found the career that ranked the highest was chief executive officer.
“This data suggests that money doesn’t always make us much happier at work,” said Saeid Fard, president of Sokanu. “In fact, careers that don’t necessarily promise wealth often end up making us happier. All but one of the top-10 careers do not usually have six-figure salaries associated. The common denominator between the careers that ranked highest seemed to be creative expression, and a high degree of control.”
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The 10 careers that ranked highest in terms of career satisfaction are:
- Chief executive officer
- Film director
- Author
- Singer
- Entrepreneur
- Art director
- Filmmaker
- Career counsellor
- Industrial designer
- Musician
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The 10 careers that ranked lowest in terms of career satisfaction are:
- Janitor
- Quality control inspector
- House cleaner
- Retail salesperson/cashier
- Delivery service driver/food delivery truck driver
- Bank teller
- Food server
- Financial clerk
- Shipping/receiving clerk
- Barista
According to the survey, customer service representatives and receptionists were not far behind the 10 lowest ranked careers. Law was not in the top 10 least satisfied careers but it only received an overall ranking of three out of five, indicating a relatively high level of dissatisfaction.
“It’s interesting to note that low-ranking careers included law and finance, both of which have a much higher earnings potential than other low-ranking careers, such as food and beverage and construction,” said Spencer Thompson, chief executive officer of Sokanu.
“From this list, we can see that just as creativity and control make us happy, service positions often make us miserable, regardless of the salary potential associated.”