CISOs are one of the happiest careers in the United States.
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, CISOs rate their career happiness 3.8 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 15% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy CISOs 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Nanotechnology engineer | 3.9 | $120k |
| Recording engineer | 3.9 | $34k |
| Solution architect | 3.7 | $100k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are CISOs happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do CISOs find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as CISOs?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are CISO’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are CISOs making the best use of their abilities?
Are CISOs happy with their salary?
CISOs rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.9/5. The majority of CISOs are quite happy with their salaries, with very few having complaints about their income level.
We asked CISOs how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.9 out of 5 stars
20 CISOs
35% of CISOs rated their compensation 5 stars
35% of CISOs rated their compensation 4 stars
20% of CISOs rated their compensation 3 stars
5% of CISOs rated their compensation 2 stars
5% of CISOs rated their compensation 1 stars
Do CISOs find their jobs meaningful?
On average, CISOs rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.7/5. Unlike many careers, CISOs have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become CISOs.
We asked CISOs how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
3.7 out of 5 stars
19 CISOs
42% of CISOs rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
16% of CISOs rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
21% of CISOs rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
11% of CISOs rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
11% of CISOs rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as CISOs?
CISOs rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.2/5. The majority of CISOs find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked CISOs how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
4.2 out of 5 stars
20 CISOs
55% of CISOs rated their career fit 5 stars
20% of CISOs rated their career fit 4 stars
20% of CISOs rated their career fit 3 stars
5% of CISOs rated their career fit 2 stars
How enjoyable is a CISO’s work environment?
As a whole, CISOs rated their enjoyment of their work environment 4.1/5. A solid majority of CISOs enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a CISO.
We asked CISOs how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
4.1 out of 5 stars
20 CISOs
35% of CISOs rated their work environment 5 stars
40% of CISOs rated their work environment 4 stars
20% of CISOs rated their work environment 3 stars
5% of CISOs rated their work environment 2 stars
Are CISOs making the best use of their abilities?
Former CISOs on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.8/5. Most CISOs surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as a CISO, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.
We asked CISOs how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.8 out of 5 stars
20 CISOs
35% of CISOs rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
25% of CISOs rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
30% of CISOs rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
10% of CISOs rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars