Electrical engineers are below average when it comes to happiness.
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, electrical engineers rate their career happiness 3.1 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 40% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy electrical engineers 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 |
|---|---|---|
| IT manager | 3.1 | $100k |
| Petroleum engineer | 3.1 | $123k |
| Locomotive engineer | 3.1 | $73k |
| Engineer | 3.1 | $73k |
| Electrical engineer | 3.1 | $69k |
| Radio frequency specialist | 3.1 | $73k |
| Systems administrator | 3.1 | $82k |
| Search engine optimization specialist | 3.1 | $39k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are electrical engineers happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do electrical engineers find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as electrical engineers?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are electrical engineer’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are electrical engineers making the best use of their abilities?
Are electrical engineers happy with their salary?
Electrical engineers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.4/5. The majority of electrical engineers are quite happy with their salaries, with very few having complaints about their income level.
We asked electrical engineers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.4 out of 5 stars
1021 electrical engineers
19% of electrical engineers rated their compensation 5 stars
33% of electrical engineers rated their compensation 4 stars
26% of electrical engineers rated their compensation 3 stars
14% of electrical engineers rated their compensation 2 stars
8% of electrical engineers rated their compensation 1 stars
Do electrical engineers find their jobs meaningful?
On average, electrical engineers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.8/5. While most electrical engineers aren’t very fulfilled by their work, some people may still manage to find meaning in it.
We asked electrical engineers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
2.8 out of 5 stars
1039 electrical engineers
14% of electrical engineers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
18% of electrical engineers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
26% of electrical engineers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
22% of electrical engineers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
20% of electrical engineers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as electrical engineers?
Electrical engineers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.6/5. The majority of electrical engineers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked electrical engineers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.6 out of 5 stars
1162 electrical engineers
24% of electrical engineers rated their career fit 5 stars
35% of electrical engineers rated their career fit 4 stars
25% of electrical engineers rated their career fit 3 stars
10% of electrical engineers rated their career fit 2 stars
6% of electrical engineers rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is an electrical engineer’s work environment?
As a whole, electrical engineers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.4/5. Most of them tend to enjoy, or at least not be actively bothered by, their work environment.
We asked electrical engineers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.4 out of 5 stars
1146 electrical engineers
19% of electrical engineers rated their work environment 5 stars
31% of electrical engineers rated their work environment 4 stars
27% of electrical engineers rated their work environment 3 stars
15% of electrical engineers rated their work environment 2 stars
8% of electrical engineers rated their work environment 1 stars
Are electrical engineers making the best use of their abilities?
Former electrical engineers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.1/5. Most electrical engineers are satisfied with how well their abilities are skills are made of use.
We asked electrical engineers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.1 out of 5 stars
1154 electrical engineers
16% of electrical engineers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
23% of electrical engineers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
26% of electrical engineers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
22% of electrical engineers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
13% of electrical engineers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars