Petroleum engineers are about average in terms of 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, petroleum engineers rate their career happiness 3.1 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 42% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy petroleum 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Security engineer | 3.2 | $74k |
| Marine engineer | 3.2 | $111k |
| Wind turbine technician | 3.2 | $65k |
| Mining and geological engineer | 3.1 | $98k |
| Radio mechanic | 3.1 | $50k |
| Building inspector | 3.1 | $37k |
| Petroleum engineer | 3.1 | $123k |
| Solar thermal installer | 3.1 | $37k |
| Locomotive engineer | 3.1 | $73k |
| Engineer | 3.1 | $73k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are petroleum engineers happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do petroleum engineers find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as petroleum engineers?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are petroleum engineer’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are petroleum engineers making the best use of their abilities?
Are petroleum engineers happy with their salary?
Petroleum engineers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.7/5. The majority of petroleum engineers are quite happy with their salaries, with very few having complaints about their income level.
We asked petroleum engineers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.7 out of 5 stars
166 petroleum engineers
33% of petroleum engineers rated their compensation 5 stars
28% of petroleum engineers rated their compensation 4 stars
22% of petroleum engineers rated their compensation 3 stars
9% of petroleum engineers rated their compensation 2 stars
8% of petroleum engineers rated their compensation 1 stars
Do petroleum engineers find their jobs meaningful?
On average, petroleum engineers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.9/5. While most petroleum engineers aren’t very fulfilled by their work, some people may still manage to find meaning in it.
We asked petroleum engineers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
2.9 out of 5 stars
168 petroleum engineers
19% of petroleum engineers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
18% of petroleum engineers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
20% of petroleum engineers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
25% of petroleum engineers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
18% of petroleum engineers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as petroleum engineers?
Petroleum engineers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.7/5. The majority of petroleum engineers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked petroleum engineers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.7 out of 5 stars
188 petroleum engineers
27% of petroleum engineers rated their career fit 5 stars
35% of petroleum engineers rated their career fit 4 stars
23% of petroleum engineers rated their career fit 3 stars
13% of petroleum engineers rated their career fit 2 stars
2% of petroleum engineers rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a petroleum engineer’s work environment?
As a whole, petroleum engineers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.4/5. A solid majority of petroleum engineers enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a petroleum engineer.
We asked petroleum engineers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.4 out of 5 stars
187 petroleum engineers
25% of petroleum engineers rated their work environment 5 stars
28% of petroleum engineers rated their work environment 4 stars
21% of petroleum engineers rated their work environment 3 stars
17% of petroleum engineers rated their work environment 2 stars
9% of petroleum engineers rated their work environment 1 stars
Are petroleum engineers making the best use of their abilities?
Former petroleum engineers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.1/5. Most petroleum engineers are satisfied with how well their abilities are skills are made of use.
We asked petroleum engineers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.1 out of 5 stars
187 petroleum engineers
18% of petroleum engineers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
21% of petroleum engineers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
29% of petroleum engineers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
21% of petroleum engineers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
12% of petroleum engineers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars