Geologists 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, geologists rate their career happiness 3.3 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 46% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy geologists 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Forester | 3.4 | $64k |
| Biologist | 3.3 | $83k |
| Biochemist | 3.3 | $102k |
| Geospatial information scientist | 3.3 | $90k |
| Geodesist | 3.3 | $62k |
| Geologist | 3.3 | $84k |
| Scientist | 3.3 | $87k |
| Geographer | 3.2 | $85k |
| Soil and water conservationist | 3.2 | $64k |
| Atmospheric scientist | 3.2 | $95k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are geologists happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do geologists find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as geologists?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are geologist’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are geologists making the best use of their abilities?
Are geologists happy with their salary?
Geologists rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.4/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most geologists having generally positive views of their salary.
We asked geologists how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.4 out of 5 stars
344 geologists
22% of geologists rated their compensation 5 stars
26% of geologists rated their compensation 4 stars
29% of geologists rated their compensation 3 stars
13% of geologists rated their compensation 2 stars
10% of geologists rated their compensation 1 stars
Do geologists find their jobs meaningful?
On average, geologists rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.0/5. While most geologists aren’t very fulfilled by their work, some people may still manage to find meaning in it.
We asked geologists how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
3.0 out of 5 stars
344 geologists
17% of geologists rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
18% of geologists rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
23% of geologists rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
28% of geologists rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
14% of geologists rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as geologists?
Geologists rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.8/5. The majority of geologists find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked geologists how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.8 out of 5 stars
379 geologists
25% of geologists rated their career fit 5 stars
41% of geologists rated their career fit 4 stars
25% of geologists rated their career fit 3 stars
6% of geologists rated their career fit 2 stars
3% of geologists rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a geologist’s work environment?
As a whole, geologists rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.6/5. A solid majority of geologists enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a geologist.
We asked geologists how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.6 out of 5 stars
382 geologists
24% of geologists rated their work environment 5 stars
31% of geologists rated their work environment 4 stars
26% of geologists rated their work environment 3 stars
13% of geologists rated their work environment 2 stars
5% of geologists rated their work environment 1 stars
Are geologists making the best use of their abilities?
Former geologists on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.3/5. Most geologists are satisfied with how well their abilities are skills are made of use.
We asked geologists how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.3 out of 5 stars
383 geologists
19% of geologists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
27% of geologists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
27% of geologists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
19% of geologists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
9% of geologists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars