When choosing a career, there are many factors to consider. For some people it is the financial aspect of the job. Does the job pay enough to sustain them and their families? For others it’s the flexibility. Mothers might want to work part time to have time to spend with their children. For others they choose what the family or society expects from them. Mostly for those coming from families where everyone works in the family business. How happy are people really in these jobs? What makes a job "happy"? Are there jobs that are happier than others?
Forbes has just released a list of the happiest and unhappiest jobs in 2015 according to a study by the jobs site CareerBliss. This study comes as a result of over 25,000 reviews by the site users. The satisfaction was not judged by how much money one makes, and so it excluded jobs like CEOs and pop stars. Instead they concentrated on people who earn a middle income.
The categories included the boss, the colleagues, the support system, rewards, growth opportunities and company culture. They also included how one handles daily tasks.
The study only rated jobs where they received at least 20 member reviews over the last 2 years. In total they had 480 titles to evaluate.
Believe it or not, school principals ranked the highest with the happiest jobs. Despite the long hours, the major limitations and challenges, the ability to see students transform their lives and achieve their goals makes principals very happy.
The next two jobs on the happy list are Executive Chefs who, despite the little profit margin, have the gratification of preparing meals for their clients even though some are in very competitive markets. Loan officers have the third happiest job. The fact that they evaluate and give loans that sometimes change the lives of the applicants really makes a big difference for them.
Sales people are ranked among the unhappiest people. Some of them have long hours and a lot of travel. Other extremely unhappy jobs like poultry factory workers were not considered in this study.
This data is very valuable for both workers and managers according to CareerBliss CEO Heidi Golledge. It can also be helpful in personal evaluation for people who are in career transition and are therefore looking into what they would like to do next.
Source: The Happiest and Unhappiest Jobs in 2015, Forbes.com, February 26, 2015
I'm very surprised and interested by the result of this study and your article. Thanks