CIOs 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, CIOs rate their career happiness 3.7 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 20% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy CIOs 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 |
|---|---|---|
| CEO | 4.0 | $120k |
| Chief executive | 3.9 | $162k |
| Solution architect | 3.7 | $100k |
| COO | 3.7 | $79k |
| UX designer | 3.5 | $106k |
| CFO | 3.4 | $100k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are CIOs happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do CIOs find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as CIOs?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are CIO’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are CIOs making the best use of their abilities?
Are CIOs happy with their salary?
CIOs rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.7/5. The majority of CIOs are quite happy with their salaries, with very few having complaints about their income level.
We asked CIOs how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.7 out of 5 stars
60 CIOs
30% of CIOs rated their compensation 5 stars
35% of CIOs rated their compensation 4 stars
18% of CIOs rated their compensation 3 stars
12% of CIOs rated their compensation 2 stars
5% of CIOs rated their compensation 1 stars
Do CIOs find their jobs meaningful?
On average, CIOs rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.4/5. Unlike many careers, CIOs have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become CIOs.
We asked CIOs how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
3.4 out of 5 stars
61 CIOs
21% of CIOs rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
33% of CIOs rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
18% of CIOs rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
21% of CIOs rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
7% of CIOs rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as CIOs?
CIOs rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.3/5. The majority of CIOs find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked CIOs how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
4.3 out of 5 stars
64 CIOs
41% of CIOs rated their career fit 5 stars
48% of CIOs rated their career fit 4 stars
9% of CIOs rated their career fit 3 stars
2% of CIOs rated their career fit 2 stars
How enjoyable is a CIO’s work environment?
As a whole, CIOs rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.9/5. A solid majority of CIOs enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a CIO.
We asked CIOs how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.9 out of 5 stars
63 CIOs
35% of CIOs rated their work environment 5 stars
33% of CIOs rated their work environment 4 stars
24% of CIOs rated their work environment 3 stars
6% of CIOs rated their work environment 2 stars
2% of CIOs rated their work environment 1 stars
Are CIOs making the best use of their abilities?
Former CIOs on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 4.0/5. Most CIOs surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as a CIO, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.
We asked CIOs how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
4.0 out of 5 stars
63 CIOs
37% of CIOs rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
37% of CIOs rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
17% of CIOs rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
8% of CIOs rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
2% of CIOs rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars