Quality assurance analysts are one of the least happy 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, quality assurance analysts rate their career happiness 2.8 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 19% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy quality assurance analysts 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Command and control center specialist | 2.9 | $37k |
| Data analyst | 2.9 | $70k |
| Environmental technician | 2.9 | $46k |
| Operations research analyst | 2.9 | $65k |
| Controller | 2.9 | $71k |
| Quality assurance analyst | 2.8 | $58k |
| Energy broker | 2.8 | $55k |
| Database administrator | 2.8 | $58k |
| Budget analyst | 2.8 | $67k |
| Quality control inspector | 2.8 | $39k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are quality assurance analysts happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do quality assurance analysts find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as quality assurance analysts?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are quality assurance analyst’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are quality assurance analysts making the best use of their abilities?
Are quality assurance analysts happy with their salary?
Quality assurance analysts rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.1/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most quality assurance analysts having generally positive views of their salary.
We asked quality assurance analysts how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.1 out of 5 stars
961 quality assurance analysts
14% of quality assurance analysts rated their compensation 5 stars
27% of quality assurance analysts rated their compensation 4 stars
27% of quality assurance analysts rated their compensation 3 stars
19% of quality assurance analysts rated their compensation 2 stars
14% of quality assurance analysts rated their compensation 1 stars
Do quality assurance analysts find their jobs meaningful?
On average, quality assurance analysts rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.4/5. The majority of quality assurance analysts struggle to find any sort of meaning in their work, likely resulting in less satisfaction with the career overall.
We asked quality assurance analysts how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
2.4 out of 5 stars
964 quality assurance analysts
7% of quality assurance analysts rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
13% of quality assurance analysts rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
24% of quality assurance analysts rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
26% of quality assurance analysts rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
29% of quality assurance analysts rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as quality assurance analysts?
Quality assurance analysts rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.7/5. The majority of quality assurance analysts find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked quality assurance analysts how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.7 out of 5 stars
968 quality assurance analysts
24% of quality assurance analysts rated their career fit 5 stars
38% of quality assurance analysts rated their career fit 4 stars
24% of quality assurance analysts rated their career fit 3 stars
10% of quality assurance analysts rated their career fit 2 stars
4% of quality assurance analysts rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a quality assurance analyst’s work environment?
As a whole, quality assurance analysts rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.4/5. A solid majority of quality assurance analysts enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a quality assurance analyst.
We asked quality assurance analysts how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.4 out of 5 stars
962 quality assurance analysts
21% of quality assurance analysts rated their work environment 5 stars
32% of quality assurance analysts rated their work environment 4 stars
25% of quality assurance analysts rated their work environment 3 stars
15% of quality assurance analysts rated their work environment 2 stars
7% of quality assurance analysts rated their work environment 1 stars
Are quality assurance analysts making the best use of their abilities?
Former quality assurance analysts on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 2.8/5. Quality assurance analysts tend to feel that they don’t manage to use their abilities to their fullest, when compared to other careers.
We asked quality assurance analysts how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
2.8 out of 5 stars
967 quality assurance analysts
9% of quality assurance analysts rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
20% of quality assurance analysts rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
26% of quality assurance analysts rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
26% of quality assurance analysts rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
18% of quality assurance analysts rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars