Executive assistants 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, executive assistants rate their career happiness 2.8 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 16% of careers.

To put this into perspective, we compared how happy executive assistants 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
Fundraising manager
2.8
$115k
Energy broker
2.8
$55k
Risk management specialist
2.8
$73k
Supply chain manager
2.8
$125k
Sales manager
2.8
$127k
Executive assistant
2.8
$62k
Bank manager
2.8
$132k
Bookkeeper
2.7
$46k
Compensation and benefits manager
2.7
$128k
Recruiter
2.7
$62k

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

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

Are executive assistants happy with their salary?

Executive assistants rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.0/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most executive assistants having generally positive views of their salary.

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

3.0 out of 5 stars

3719 executive assistants

5 Star
12%

12% of executive assistants rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
25%

25% of executive assistants rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
29%

29% of executive assistants rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
20%

20% of executive assistants rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
14%

14% of executive assistants rated their compensation 1 stars

Do executive assistants find their jobs meaningful?

On average, executive assistants rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.3/5. The majority of executive assistants struggle to find any sort of meaning in their work, likely resulting in less satisfaction with the career overall.

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

2.3 out of 5 stars

3723 executive assistants

5 Star
8%

8% of executive assistants rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

4 Star
10%

10% of executive assistants rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
22%

22% of executive assistants rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

2 Star
29%

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

1 Star
31%

31% of executive assistants rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars

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

Executive assistants rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.7/5. The majority of executive assistants find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.

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

3.7 out of 5 stars

4038 executive assistants

5 Star
29%

29% of executive assistants rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
35%

35% of executive assistants rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
21%

21% of executive assistants rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
10%

10% of executive assistants rated their career fit 2 stars

1 Star
6%

6% of executive assistants rated their career fit 1 stars

How enjoyable is an executive assistant’s work environment?

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

3.3 out of 5 stars

4028 executive assistants

5 Star
20%

20% of executive assistants rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
30%

30% of executive assistants rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
26%

26% of executive assistants rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
16%

16% of executive assistants rated their work environment 2 stars

1 Star
9%

9% of executive assistants rated their work environment 1 stars

Are executive assistants making the best use of their abilities?

Former executive assistants on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 2.6/5. Most feel that their skills are being underutilized in the career, probably leading to more general dissatisfaction with being an executive assistant.

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

2.6 out of 5 stars

4036 executive assistants

5 Star
11%

11% of executive assistants rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
16%

16% of executive assistants rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars

3 Star
23%

23% of executive assistants rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars

2 Star
28%

28% of executive assistants rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

1 Star
23%

23% of executive assistants rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars