Film directors 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, film directors rate their career happiness 4.3 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 1% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy film directors 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Film director | 4.3 | $69k |
| Filmmaker | 4.1 | $18k |
| Cinematographer | 4.1 | $40k |
| Television writer | 4.0 | $36k |
| Announcer | 3.9 | $27k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are film directors happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do film directors find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as film directors?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are film director’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are film directors making the best use of their abilities?
Are film directors happy with their salary?
Film directors rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.1/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most film directors having generally positive views of their salary.
We asked film directors how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.1 out of 5 stars
442 film directors
26% of film directors rated their compensation 5 stars
16% of film directors rated their compensation 4 stars
24% of film directors rated their compensation 3 stars
14% of film directors rated their compensation 2 stars
20% of film directors rated their compensation 1 stars
Do film directors find their jobs meaningful?
On average, film directors rate the meaningfulness of their work a 4.2/5. Unlike many careers, film directors have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become film directors.
We asked film directors how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
4.2 out of 5 stars
464 film directors
55% of film directors rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
23% of film directors rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
13% of film directors rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
5% of film directors rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
5% of film directors rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as film directors?
Film directors rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.3/5. The majority of film directors find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked film directors how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
4.3 out of 5 stars
531 film directors
57% of film directors rated their career fit 5 stars
28% of film directors rated their career fit 4 stars
10% of film directors rated their career fit 3 stars
4% of film directors rated their career fit 2 stars
2% of film directors rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a film director’s work environment?
As a whole, film directors rated their enjoyment of their work environment 4.2/5. A solid majority of film directors enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a film director.
We asked film directors how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
4.2 out of 5 stars
528 film directors
50% of film directors rated their work environment 5 stars
30% of film directors rated their work environment 4 stars
13% of film directors rated their work environment 3 stars
4% of film directors rated their work environment 2 stars
3% of film directors rated their work environment 1 stars
Are film directors making the best use of their abilities?
Former film directors on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 4.2/5. Most film directors surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as a film director, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.
We asked film directors how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
4.2 out of 5 stars
527 film directors
54% of film directors rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
27% of film directors rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
12% of film directors rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
5% of film directors rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
3% of film directors rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars