Controllers 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, controllers rate their career happiness 2.9 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 21% of careers.

To put this into perspective, we compared how happy controllers 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
Fraud analyst
2.9
$54k
Customer success manager
2.9
$70k
Fundraiser
2.9
$61k
Data analyst
2.9
$70k
Operations research analyst
2.9
$65k
Controller
2.9
$71k
Fundraising manager
2.8
$69k
Quality assurance analyst
2.8
$58k
Energy broker
2.8
$55k
Sales engineer
2.8
$78k

So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:

  • Salary: Are controllers happy with their salary?
  • Meaning: Do controllers find their jobs meaningful?
  • Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as controllers?
  • Work environment: How enjoyable are controller’s work environments?
  • Skills utilization: Are controllers making the best use of their abilities?

Are controllers happy with their salary?

Controllers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.4/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most controllers having generally positive views of their salary.

We asked controllers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:

3.4 out of 5 stars

293 controllers

5 Star
14%

14% of controllers rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
36%

36% of controllers rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
29%

29% of controllers rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
13%

13% of controllers rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
8%

8% of controllers rated their compensation 1 stars

Do controllers find their jobs meaningful?

On average, controllers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.4/5. The majority of controllers struggle to find any sort of meaning in their work, likely resulting in less satisfaction with the career overall.

We asked controllers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:

2.4 out of 5 stars

294 controllers

5 Star
7%

7% of controllers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

4 Star
12%

12% of controllers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
25%

25% of controllers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

2 Star
29%

29% of controllers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars

1 Star
27%

27% of controllers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars

How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as controllers?

Controllers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.6/5. The majority of controllers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.

We asked controllers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:

3.6 out of 5 stars

308 controllers

5 Star
21%

21% of controllers rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
36%

36% of controllers rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
25%

25% of controllers rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
12%

12% of controllers rated their career fit 2 stars

1 Star
6%

6% of controllers rated their career fit 1 stars

How enjoyable is a controller’s work environment?

As a whole, controllers 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 controllers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:

3.3 out of 5 stars

308 controllers

5 Star
17%

17% of controllers rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
30%

30% of controllers rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
29%

29% of controllers rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
14%

14% of controllers rated their work environment 2 stars

1 Star
11%

11% of controllers rated their work environment 1 stars

Are controllers making the best use of their abilities?

Former controllers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.0/5. Controllers tend to feel that they don’t manage to use their abilities to their fullest, when compared to other careers.

We asked controllers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:

3.0 out of 5 stars

309 controllers

5 Star
14%

14% of controllers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
18%

18% of controllers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars

3 Star
31%

31% of controllers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars

2 Star
26%

26% of controllers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

1 Star
12%

12% of controllers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars