Detectives 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, detectives rate their career happiness 3.6 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 24% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy detectives 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Special agent | 3.6 | $96k |
| Detective | 3.6 | $55k |
| Private detective | 3.5 | $58k |
| Hearing officer | 3.5 | $108k |
| Forensic science technician | 3.4 | $33k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are detectives happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do detectives find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as detectives?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are detective’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are detectives making the best use of their abilities?
Are detectives happy with their salary?
Detectives rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.5/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most detectives having generally positive views of their salary.
We asked detectives how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.5 out of 5 stars
176 detectives
27% of detectives rated their compensation 5 stars
22% of detectives rated their compensation 4 stars
28% of detectives rated their compensation 3 stars
14% of detectives rated their compensation 2 stars
9% of detectives rated their compensation 1 stars
Do detectives find their jobs meaningful?
On average, detectives rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.6/5. Unlike many careers, detectives have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become detectives.
We asked detectives how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
3.6 out of 5 stars
174 detectives
37% of detectives rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
23% of detectives rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
20% of detectives rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
9% of detectives rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
11% of detectives rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as detectives?
Detectives rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.1/5. The majority of detectives find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked detectives how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
4.1 out of 5 stars
199 detectives
45% of detectives rated their career fit 5 stars
33% of detectives rated their career fit 4 stars
13% of detectives rated their career fit 3 stars
5% of detectives rated their career fit 2 stars
5% of detectives rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a detective’s work environment?
As a whole, detectives rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.8/5. A solid majority of detectives enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a detective.
We asked detectives how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.8 out of 5 stars
193 detectives
36% of detectives rated their work environment 5 stars
31% of detectives rated their work environment 4 stars
18% of detectives rated their work environment 3 stars
10% of detectives rated their work environment 2 stars
5% of detectives rated their work environment 1 stars
Are detectives making the best use of their abilities?
Former detectives on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.7/5. Most detectives surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as a detective, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.
We asked detectives how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.7 out of 5 stars
197 detectives
37% of detectives rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
27% of detectives rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
17% of detectives rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
15% of detectives rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
5% of detectives rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars