<p>I know there are a multitude of factors that go into career satisfaction/happiness and that it depends on the individual in terms of their personal needs, character traits, talents etc.-that it's not "one size fits all".</p>
<p>And although there is no career that I am aware of with every one of the positive traits you would associate with the "ideal job": reasonable hours, manageable stress, highly creative and engaging work, good pay, job availability, etc., what I'd like to know from the wise folks here at CC is:</p>
<p>What careers are you aware of that have high satisfaction rates? </p>
<p>It seems as though the focus on CC is often on the problems associated with various careers rather than the positives. I've read posts discussing the issues involved with becoming a lawyer, physician, scientist, musician, artist etc. While it's certainly helpful for college-bound students to know what they are getting into, there also have to be some positive choices out there somewhere.</p>
<p>What are the "good careers" out there in 2013? </p>
<p>Not just best job prospects or highest pay, but the ones more likely to end up as a satisfying career overall?</p>
<p>This is silly and unanswerable. What, if I hear that 95% of marine biologists are thrilled with their careers, I should go become a marine biologist even though I have no interest in it or aptitude for it? What does the aggregate have to do with me?</p>
<p>No… Why would you jump to that conclusion? </p>
<p>It would be something to consider in conjunction with other criteria when deciding a major/career. You could say “I’m interested in these two fields, but in this field employment satisfaction is low and in this other one it’s high, so I will do this 2nd one.”</p>
<p>Now, there’s a question of if the data is out there. I don’t know but I suspect not.</p>
<p>Why should it ever be something to consider? What does it matter if other people are satisfied/dissatisfied with a particular job? If you have interest in the field, it doesn’t matter what anybody else thinks.</p>
<p>I am not sure why everyone finds OP question to be a funny or weird question. Most of us on this board because at one time or another we were assisting our children in finding a college, which, is typically based on satisfation rates, etc?</p>
<p>I keep hearing good things about the actuarial profession. That’s the career my SIL suggested to my son. He did online research and talked to several actuaries, who told him it’s a wonderful field. So S is studying applied mathematics and loves it.</p>
<p>People do study this, and it’s worth considering. According to the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, job satisfaction is highest in the following occupations:</p>
<p>These are, by and large, not particularly lucrative careers. Some (firefighter, construction machinery operator) don’t necessarily require a college education. Surprisingly, 3 of the 10 are in K-12 education, and 7 of the 10 might be classified as “helping” professions in which satisfaction derives largely from helping others. Two are at perhaps the other extreme, self-indulgent/expressive (artist, author). Construction machinery operator I don’t get, personally, but hey, whatever floats your boat.</p>
<p>If the NORC is correct, job satisfaction doesn’t come from making gazillions on Wall Street.</p>
<p>I think artists and architects have a pretty high satisfaction rate despite the low pay because there’s the pleasure of having a finished product to look at.</p>
<p>My D is starting the actuarial classes this summer. Is your son taking the classes that prep him for the exams or is he just obtaining the math degree and then pursuing the exams later?</p>
<p>Taking notes on where the job satisfaction and psychopath lists intersect.</p>
<p>And “construction machinery operator” is super cool. Along with firefighters, they are probably the only people on the list doing exactly what they wanted to do since they were six years old.</p>
It’s not so simple. One may have a passion to be in a field that pays $25K but be quite dissatisfied with it because they can’t adequately support their family on that income. I may have a passion for sitting on a rock looking at the sky but if I can’t be paid reasonably for doing that then I won’t be satisfied with it.</p>
<p>Having an income that can satisfactorily support oneself and whoever’s dependent on them is one of the most important points of job satisfaction. However, don’t ask what this income level would be because it varies greatly with the location, number of dependents, personal lifestyle choices (expensive car/no car, big house/little studio, big vacations/minimal vacations, etc.). </p>
<p>Which jobs one would find satisfaction in varies all over the place. It usually boils down to doing what you find interesting (not necessarily a ‘passion’), having flexibility in doing it on reasonable terms (not having a boss hounding you or too much uninteresting administrative overhead work for example), and having a reasonably satisfying income as well. </p>
<p>Some people are very satisfied as a doctor, lawyer, engineer, nurse, teacher, minister, owning their own business, salesperson, scientist of some type, builder, construction person, etc. but a person satisfied in being a minister wouldn’t necessarily be satisfied as an engineer or vice versa, for example.</p>
<p>Think through what you’re interested in and continue to explore different areas so you can consider areas you haven’t ever thought of before. Do consider remuneration in the different areas to the extent that it will affect your satisfaction.</p>
<p>collegeshopping, my son took the first actuarial exam in November but didn’t pass it. We didn’t expect him to, because he studied on his own and hasn’t had enough advanced math yet. He’s done more research about how to do better next time - he’s going to take an online course and has ordered several books.</p>
<p>Now that you mention it, when I was six I did spend endless hours in the sandbox, moving piles of sand with my little mechanical “steam shovel.” Then after dinner I’d get cleaned up in the bathtub and have my mom read me Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel before bed. Quite the life. Somewhere along the way, however (maybe when I was seven and started to acquire a passion for baseball?), I lost interest in moving piles of sand. Perhaps I’d be a happier man today if I’d stuck with it.</p>
<p>DH bought a used bulldozer many years ago. He had so much fun with it! He planned on using it to put a road in on some property we own up in the Maine woods. He had all sorts of adventures with it, such as when the track came off. He never accomplished much with it, but I figured it was cheaper than therapy. One year our Christmas card was of him sitting proudly in the bulldozer with the caption, “Peace on Earth.”</p>
<p>^ That’s hilarious, ML. But come to think of it, one of the first things my brother did after he retired was to buy a used dump truck. I’m not sure what he does with it, but he loves that old dump truck. As does his grandson, of course. The two of them have really bonded over that thing. Maybe there’s a male “heavy construction equipment” gene that I missed. Or maybe it’s just recessive in me. Or (heaven forbid!) maybe in our family it only reasserts itself after you retire.</p>
<p>As we speak, my stuff is on the floor of the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show. Some you can buy already. You can’t describe this kind of career satisfaction. But not everyone is capable or interested in the mindboggling details involved in getting consumer electronics stuff to work, or in the daydreaming that it takes to think of new products, or the brutal industry cycles. </p>
<p>It simply goes down like this. If you’re the creative or inquisitive type, jobs like accounting or actuarial science may not be a good match. If you’re the orderly, detail oriented type, emergency care medicine or firefighting may not be for you. And so on.</p>