Several different studies have been conducted to determine what careers score the highest in overall job satisfaction. The results of these studies vary to some degree, but they all seem to agree on one thing – what makes people happy in a career boils down to three things: decent pay, superior people skills and feeling as if one is making a positive contribution.
The most meaningful careers are often the ones that pay the least, right? Not necessarily, a new report suggests. It compared job satisfaction to salary at hundreds of occupations. Here’s what it found.
Are you looking for a career with a high level of job satisfaction? One that lets you solve problems, learn something new every day and gives you autonomy to select the tools for success?
Careers with highest satisfaction
Scientific studies have found that medical practitioners, engineers and educational specialists typically enjoy the highest job satisfaction. [1] Ninety-one percent of practicing physicians in a 2013 survey said they were satisfied with their jobs, as did 90 percent of software developers and 87 percent of architects.
We analyzed more than 50 elements of each position and what it takes to be successful. Survey results of 100,000+ US employees and 10,000+ job descriptions from 32 industries to find the best jobs in the U.S.
In recent years, there has been a major shift in the way people approach their careers. There is no longer a predetermined path for your career to take, if you don’t like it, you can just change it. Nowadays having multiple careers is accepted, and even encouraged. Jobs like digital nomads allow you to travel the world while doing your job. This means that a high salary isn’t necessarily a necessity; we only need enough to live comfortably.
If other careers ranked higher for satisfaction, that’s fantastic for the people who work in them. But it doesn’t change this fact: your career is the most important aspect of your life, and if you throw yourself into a career that makes you miserable, you’ll likely end up getting really sick or making unduly poor financial decisions. Don’t mistake these other careers—even ones with high pay—for something they aren’t. Remember that there are many ways to find fulfillment in life, so don’t rush into a job or career just because it seems stable. After all, not every fulfilling job comes with a high salary. Ultimately, what kind of legacy do you want to leave? Do you want to be swimming in debt and living paycheck to paycheck, or do you want to live happily and leave something behind for those who come after you?
If you’re looking for a career that has a high job satisfaction level, you’ll need to narrow down that list of potential careers. The key, as shown by the table above, is to find a career that you’re passionate about. Once you’ve found that, it’s much easier to create your ideal career and achieve high levels of job satisfaction.
This study analyzed 258 careers based on the 5 categories of fulfillment, income, outlook, stress, and flexibility and found which of these traits really matter when choosing a career path.
Here are ten careers that can make you happy and also earn good money: Chemists can discover new molecules and elements, Physicists often work for organizations like NASA, teachers have the satisfaction of helping others learn, Economists help people understand how a nation’s economy works, Actuaries calculate risk for insurance companies, Financial Planners advise clients on investing and saving for retirement, Lawyers advocate the rights of individuals to organizations or companies that have broken the law, Procurement Managers develop purchasing strategies and choose vendors to ensure organizations get quality products on time at a reasonable price, Software Quality Assurance Engineers find bugs in software before it is released to customers.
The graphic design industry has a lot of aspects to it. Some people choose to focus on art, while some focus on visuals, and others on the business aspect. With that said, it seems that the best jobs for most designers will be the ones that put them in front of an audience where they can present their work.
In order to maximize your lifetime earnings, you need to be timely educated, stay up to date with new technology, think strategically, and take care of your health. Stay on the forefront of technology and learn more about traffic patterns, new industry developments, and skills gaps. And if you don’t you’ll probably have less job satisfaction than you should – There’s no better time than right now to start creating a better life for yourself.
