Counselors 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, counselors rate their career happiness 3.5 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 31% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy counselors 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Industrial organizational psychologist | 3.9 | $143k |
| Career counselor | 3.8 | $48k |
| Counseling psychologist | 3.6 | $80k |
| Clergy member | 3.6 | $36k |
| Counselor | 3.5 | $20k |
| Health educator | 3.5 | $40k |
| Psychologist | 3.5 | $56k |
| School counselor | 3.5 | $38k |
| Recreational therapist | 3.4 | $46k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are counselors happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do counselors find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as counselors?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are counselor’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are counselors making the best use of their abilities?
Are counselors happy with their salary?
Counselors rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.7/5. Counselors tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.
We asked counselors how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
2.7 out of 5 stars
1673 counselors
10% of counselors rated their compensation 5 stars
17% of counselors rated their compensation 4 stars
28% of counselors rated their compensation 3 stars
26% of counselors rated their compensation 2 stars
20% of counselors rated their compensation 1 stars
Do counselors find their jobs meaningful?
On average, counselors rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.8/5. Unlike many careers, counselors have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become counselors.
We asked counselors how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
3.8 out of 5 stars
1690 counselors
34% of counselors rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
31% of counselors rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
17% of counselors rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
10% of counselors rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
7% of counselors rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as counselors?
Counselors rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.1/5. The majority of counselors find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked counselors how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
4.1 out of 5 stars
1827 counselors
43% of counselors rated their career fit 5 stars
35% of counselors rated their career fit 4 stars
15% of counselors rated their career fit 3 stars
5% of counselors rated their career fit 2 stars
3% of counselors rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a counselor’s work environment?
As a whole, counselors rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.8/5. A solid majority of counselors enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a counselor.
We asked counselors how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.8 out of 5 stars
1813 counselors
29% of counselors rated their work environment 5 stars
36% of counselors rated their work environment 4 stars
22% of counselors rated their work environment 3 stars
10% of counselors rated their work environment 2 stars
4% of counselors rated their work environment 1 stars
Are counselors making the best use of their abilities?
Former counselors on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.5/5. Most counselors surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as a counselor, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.
We asked counselors how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.5 out of 5 stars
1818 counselors
25% of counselors rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
31% of counselors rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
22% of counselors rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
15% of counselors rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
7% of counselors rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars