Need a list of careers ranked by job satisfaction.

November 1, 2004 5:24 AM

I'm looking a list of careers by amount of job satisfaction.

I've googled and hit the job & career sites, but nada. All I've been able to find is industry specific, (e.g. 'Chefs happy' says united foodworkers study) There must be a list somewhere out there, right? Mefibrarians, please hope me!

posted by leotrotsky to Work & Money (5 answers total)

I am currently working on an application to make job recommendations based on a set of pshchometric tests and job satisfaction depends on the individual and not the job. I am pretty busy at the moment but the jos listing that is being used can be found at oNET with a load of other useful resources. Have a nose around and there should be something that can help you.

Sorry I don't have time to go into any more detail.
posted by kenaman at 5:39 AM on November 1, 2004

I don't really see how such a list could be meaningful. What's satisfying to one person is not to another. Lots of people are satisfied by a military career, for example, but it would be intolerable to me. Isn't this kind of like asking "What kind of man/woman is most attractive"?
posted by languagehat at 7:41 AM on November 1, 2004

Response by poster: Certainly people have varying preferences, but that doesn't mean that such information would be utterly useless.

Isn't it possible that some professions are simply structured, in terms of a combination of daily schedule, pay, etc... so as to be less fulfilling, on average than others?
posted by leotrotsky at 8:11 AM on November 1, 2004

Response by poster: And, yes 'fulfilling' is a vague word. I'd prefer to know things like average level of cortisol in blood-stream, or average life expectancy by occupation normed for income & class, but as those are somewhat harder to come by, I'll proxy that with job satisfaction.

People have varying preferences, but we're all the same animal: I suspect some jobs just work better in terms of how we're internally wired, and others don't.
posted by leotrotsky at 8:18 AM on November 1, 2004

To drop in on the thread again the system I am developing measures an individuals Personality, Values, Interests and Motivated Skills.

The job which best fits (satisfies most criteria) should do match the following :

1. Personality Type (Extraverted, Conscientious etc...),
2. Be in keeping with what you value (Independence, Recognition, Working Conditions etc..),
3. Interest you (Commercial, Social, Practical Focus etc)
4. Use Skills which you enjoy and are good at (Working with Data, Ideas, People, Things etc..)

Career Guidance is a two-way thing. If you gave some information about yourself in terms of the four criteria listed above people should be able to help you from their own experience.
posted by kenaman at 8:51 AM on November 1, 2004