CFOs rate their happiness above average.
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, CFOs rate their career happiness 3.4 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 34% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy CFOs 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Solution architect | 3.7 | $100k |
| COO | 3.7 | $79k |
| CFO | 3.4 | $100k |
| Franchise owner | 3.4 | $58k |
| Stock trader | 3.4 | $38k |
| Disaster recovery specialist | 3.3 | $41k |
| Product manager | 3.3 | $119k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are CFOs happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do CFOs find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as CFOs?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are CFO’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are CFOs making the best use of their abilities?
Are CFOs happy with their salary?
CFOs rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.5/5. The majority of CFOs are quite happy with their salaries, with very few having complaints about their income level.
We asked CFOs how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.5 out of 5 stars
213 CFOs
28% of CFOs rated their compensation 5 stars
27% of CFOs rated their compensation 4 stars
23% of CFOs rated their compensation 3 stars
10% of CFOs rated their compensation 2 stars
12% of CFOs rated their compensation 1 stars
Do CFOs find their jobs meaningful?
On average, CFOs rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.2/5. Most tend to be satisified with the level of meaning they find in their careers.
We asked CFOs how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
3.2 out of 5 stars
215 CFOs
22% of CFOs rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
20% of CFOs rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
27% of CFOs rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
17% of CFOs rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
13% of CFOs rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as CFOs?
CFOs rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.1/5. The majority of CFOs find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked CFOs how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
4.1 out of 5 stars
225 CFOs
44% of CFOs rated their career fit 5 stars
36% of CFOs rated their career fit 4 stars
13% of CFOs rated their career fit 3 stars
3% of CFOs rated their career fit 2 stars
4% of CFOs rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a CFO’s work environment?
As a whole, CFOs rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.7/5. A solid majority of CFOs enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a CFO.
We asked CFOs how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.7 out of 5 stars
224 CFOs
26% of CFOs rated their work environment 5 stars
38% of CFOs rated their work environment 4 stars
23% of CFOs rated their work environment 3 stars
8% of CFOs rated their work environment 2 stars
5% of CFOs rated their work environment 1 stars
Are CFOs making the best use of their abilities?
Former CFOs on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.4/5. Most CFOs surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as a CFO, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.
We asked CFOs how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.4 out of 5 stars
226 CFOs
23% of CFOs rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
28% of CFOs rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
25% of CFOs rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
14% of CFOs rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
10% of CFOs rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars