Casting directors rate their happiness above average.
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, casting directors rate their career happiness 3.6 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 25% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy casting 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Executive film producer | 3.6 | $60k |
| Camera operator | 3.6 | $49k |
| Film producer | 3.6 | $79k |
| Casting director | 3.6 | $79k |
| Music business manager | 3.6 | $32k |
| Conductor | 3.5 | $49k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are casting directors happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do casting directors find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as casting directors?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are casting director’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are casting directors making the best use of their abilities?
Are casting directors happy with their salary?
Casting directors rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.0/5. Casting directors tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.
We asked casting directors how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.0 out of 5 stars
67 casting directors
12% of casting directors rated their compensation 5 stars
25% of casting directors rated their compensation 4 stars
22% of casting directors rated their compensation 3 stars
27% of casting directors rated their compensation 2 stars
13% of casting directors rated their compensation 1 stars
Do casting directors find their jobs meaningful?
On average, casting directors rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.4/5. Unlike many careers, casting directors have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become casting directors.
We asked casting directors how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
3.4 out of 5 stars
70 casting directors
27% of casting directors rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
26% of casting directors rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
17% of casting directors rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
16% of casting directors rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
14% of casting directors rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as casting directors?
Casting directors rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.1/5. The majority of casting directors find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked casting directors how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
4.1 out of 5 stars
75 casting directors
45% of casting directors rated their career fit 5 stars
28% of casting directors rated their career fit 4 stars
20% of casting directors rated their career fit 3 stars
3% of casting directors rated their career fit 2 stars
4% of casting directors rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a casting director’s work environment?
As a whole, casting directors rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.8/5. A solid majority of casting directors enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a casting director.
We asked casting directors how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.8 out of 5 stars
76 casting directors
34% of casting directors rated their work environment 5 stars
32% of casting directors rated their work environment 4 stars
18% of casting directors rated their work environment 3 stars
11% of casting directors rated their work environment 2 stars
5% of casting directors rated their work environment 1 stars
Are casting directors making the best use of their abilities?
Former casting directors on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.5/5. Most casting directors surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as a casting director, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.
We asked casting directors how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.5 out of 5 stars
76 casting directors
28% of casting directors rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
24% of casting directors rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
29% of casting directors rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
11% of casting directors rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
9% of casting directors rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars