Caterers are below average when it comes to happiness.

At CareerExplorer, we conduct an ongoing survey with millions of people and ask them how satisfied they are with their careers. As it turns out, caterers rate their career happiness 2.9 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 22% of careers.

To put this into perspective, we compared how happy caterers are to similar careers in the industry. Take a look at the results below:

Salaries and satisfaction ratings in similar careers

Career Satisfaction Avg Salary
Baker
3.1
$6k
Bartender
3.0
$26k
Amusement attendant
3.0
$6k
Culinary chef
2.9
$21k
Barista
2.9
$18k
Caterer
2.9
$28k
Street vendor
2.9
$4k
Concierge
2.8
$14k
Restaurant manager
2.7
$32k

So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:

  • Salary: Are caterers happy with their salary?
  • Meaning: Do caterers find their jobs meaningful?
  • Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as caterers?
  • Work environment: How enjoyable are caterer’s work environments?
  • Skills utilization: Are caterers making the best use of their abilities?

Are caterers happy with their salary?

Caterers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.8/5. Caterers tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.

We asked caterers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:

2.8 out of 5 stars

882 caterers

5 Star
7%

7% of caterers rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
23%

23% of caterers rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
29%

29% of caterers rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
24%

24% of caterers rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
17%

17% of caterers rated their compensation 1 stars

Do caterers find their jobs meaningful?

On average, caterers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.3/5. The majority of caterers struggle to find any sort of meaning in their work, likely resulting in less satisfaction with the career overall.

We asked caterers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:

2.3 out of 5 stars

884 caterers

5 Star
7%

7% of caterers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

4 Star
11%

11% of caterers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
20%

20% of caterers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

2 Star
29%

29% of caterers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars

1 Star
32%

32% of caterers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars

How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as caterers?

Caterers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.7/5. The majority of caterers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.

We asked caterers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:

3.7 out of 5 stars

956 caterers

5 Star
29%

29% of caterers rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
37%

37% of caterers rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
18%

18% of caterers rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
10%

10% of caterers rated their career fit 2 stars

1 Star
5%

5% of caterers rated their career fit 1 stars

How enjoyable is a caterer’s work environment?

As a whole, caterers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.3/5. Most of them tend to enjoy, or at least not be actively bothered by, their work environment.

We asked caterers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:

3.3 out of 5 stars

955 caterers

5 Star
17%

17% of caterers rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
30%

30% of caterers rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
26%

26% of caterers rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
18%

18% of caterers rated their work environment 2 stars

1 Star
9%

9% of caterers rated their work environment 1 stars

Are caterers making the best use of their abilities?

Former caterers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 2.6/5. Most feel that their skills are being underutilized in the career, probably leading to more general dissatisfaction with being a caterer.

We asked caterers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:

2.6 out of 5 stars

957 caterers

5 Star
10%

10% of caterers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
16%

16% of caterers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars

3 Star
23%

23% of caterers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars

2 Star
26%

26% of caterers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

1 Star
25%

25% of caterers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars