Correspondents 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, correspondents rate their career happiness 3.2 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 47% of careers.

To put this into perspective, we compared how happy correspondents 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
Television writer
4.0
$70k
Blogger
3.8
$26k
News anchor
3.7
$67k
Journalist
3.4
$37k
Editor
3.4
$63k
Content manager
3.2
$40k
News reporter
3.2
$27k
Proofreader
3.1
$44k
Copywriter
3.1
$70k

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

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

Are correspondents happy with their salary?

Correspondents rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.9/5. Correspondents tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.

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

2.9 out of 5 stars

37 correspondents

5 Star
8%

8% of correspondents rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
27%

27% of correspondents rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
22%

22% of correspondents rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
32%

32% of correspondents rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
11%

11% of correspondents rated their compensation 1 stars

Do correspondents find their jobs meaningful?

On average, correspondents rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.2/5. Unlike many careers, correspondents have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become correspondents.

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

3.2 out of 5 stars

36 correspondents

5 Star
17%

17% of correspondents rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

4 Star
36%

36% of correspondents rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
17%

17% of correspondents rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

2 Star
11%

11% of correspondents rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars

1 Star
19%

19% of correspondents rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars

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

Correspondents rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.8/5. The majority of correspondents find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.

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

3.8 out of 5 stars

42 correspondents

5 Star
38%

38% of correspondents rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
29%

29% of correspondents rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
14%

14% of correspondents rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
12%

12% of correspondents rated their career fit 2 stars

1 Star
7%

7% of correspondents rated their career fit 1 stars

How enjoyable is a correspondent’s work environment?

As a whole, correspondents rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.7/5. A solid majority of correspondents enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a correspondent.

We asked correspondents how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:

3.7 out of 5 stars

41 correspondents

5 Star
29%

29% of correspondents rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
34%

34% of correspondents rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
17%

17% of correspondents rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
12%

12% of correspondents rated their work environment 2 stars

1 Star
7%

7% of correspondents rated their work environment 1 stars

Are correspondents making the best use of their abilities?

Former correspondents on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.1/5. Most correspondents are satisfied with how well their abilities are skills are made of use.

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

3.1 out of 5 stars

41 correspondents

5 Star
17%

17% of correspondents rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
22%

22% of correspondents rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars

3 Star
24%

24% of correspondents rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars

2 Star
24%

24% of correspondents rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

1 Star
12%

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