Probation officers 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, probation officers rate their career happiness 2.9 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 24% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy probation officers 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Bailiff | 3.1 | $53k |
| Court reporter | 3.0 | $57k |
| Fire inspector | 3.0 | $62k |
| Judicial law clerk | 3.0 | $31k |
| Ambulance dispatcher | 2.9 | $40k |
| Probation officer | 2.9 | $39k |
| Social worker | 2.9 | $43k |
| Customs inspector | 2.9 | $88k |
| Legal secretary | 2.7 | $29k |
| Paralegal | 2.7 | $44k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are probation officers happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do probation officers find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as probation officers?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are probation officer’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are probation officers making the best use of their abilities?
Are probation officers happy with their salary?
Probation officers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.6/5. Most probation officers do not feel that their salaries adequately reflect their work, and are actively unhappy with their income.
We asked probation officers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
2.6 out of 5 stars
128 probation officers
12% of probation officers rated their compensation 5 stars
18% of probation officers rated their compensation 4 stars
17% of probation officers rated their compensation 3 stars
26% of probation officers rated their compensation 2 stars
27% of probation officers rated their compensation 1 stars
Do probation officers find their jobs meaningful?
On average, probation officers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.9/5. While most probation officers aren’t very fulfilled by their work, some people may still manage to find meaning in it.
We asked probation officers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
2.9 out of 5 stars
129 probation officers
12% of probation officers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
22% of probation officers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
24% of probation officers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
26% of probation officers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
16% of probation officers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as probation officers?
Probation officers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.7/5. The majority of probation officers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked probation officers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.7 out of 5 stars
134 probation officers
29% of probation officers rated their career fit 5 stars
31% of probation officers rated their career fit 4 stars
26% of probation officers rated their career fit 3 stars
8% of probation officers rated their career fit 2 stars
6% of probation officers rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a probation officer’s work environment?
As a whole, probation officers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.3/5. Most of them tend to enjoy, or at least not be actively bothered by, their work environment.
We asked probation officers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.3 out of 5 stars
136 probation officers
17% of probation officers rated their work environment 5 stars
34% of probation officers rated their work environment 4 stars
21% of probation officers rated their work environment 3 stars
20% of probation officers rated their work environment 2 stars
9% of probation officers rated their work environment 1 stars
Are probation officers making the best use of their abilities?
Former probation officers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.0/5. Most probation officers are satisfied with how well their abilities are skills are made of use.
We asked probation officers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.0 out of 5 stars
136 probation officers
13% of probation officers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
25% of probation officers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
26% of probation officers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
21% of probation officers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
15% of probation officers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars