Ironworkers 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, ironworkers rate their career happiness 2.9 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 25% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy ironworkers 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Rotary drill operator | 2.9 | $56k |
| Stonemason | 2.9 | $48k |
| Boilermaker | 2.9 | $64k |
| Sailor | 2.9 | $47k |
| Ironworker | 2.9 | $59k |
| Quarry rock splitter | 2.9 | $38k |
| Maintenance worker | 2.9 | $43k |
| Water treatment plant operator | 2.9 | $48k |
| Cement mason | 2.9 | $47k |
| Surveyor | 2.8 | $62k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are ironworkers happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do ironworkers find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as ironworkers?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are ironworker’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are ironworkers making the best use of their abilities?
Are ironworkers happy with their salary?
Ironworkers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.5/5. The majority of ironworkers are quite happy with their salaries, with very few having complaints about their income level.
We asked ironworkers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.5 out of 5 stars
128 ironworkers
29% of ironworkers rated their compensation 5 stars
30% of ironworkers rated their compensation 4 stars
18% of ironworkers rated their compensation 3 stars
10% of ironworkers rated their compensation 2 stars
13% of ironworkers rated their compensation 1 stars
Do ironworkers find their jobs meaningful?
On average, ironworkers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.6/5. The majority of ironworkers struggle to find any sort of meaning in their work, likely resulting in less satisfaction with the career overall.
We asked ironworkers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
2.6 out of 5 stars
129 ironworkers
11% of ironworkers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
18% of ironworkers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
21% of ironworkers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
20% of ironworkers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
30% of ironworkers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as ironworkers?
Ironworkers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.7/5. The majority of ironworkers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked ironworkers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.7 out of 5 stars
133 ironworkers
33% of ironworkers rated their career fit 5 stars
34% of ironworkers rated their career fit 4 stars
16% of ironworkers rated their career fit 3 stars
8% of ironworkers rated their career fit 2 stars
10% of ironworkers rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is an ironworker’s work environment?
As a whole, ironworkers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.4/5. Most of them tend to enjoy, or at least not be actively bothered by, their work environment.
We asked ironworkers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.4 out of 5 stars
135 ironworkers
26% of ironworkers rated their work environment 5 stars
24% of ironworkers rated their work environment 4 stars
27% of ironworkers rated their work environment 3 stars
15% of ironworkers rated their work environment 2 stars
8% of ironworkers rated their work environment 1 stars
Are ironworkers making the best use of their abilities?
Former ironworkers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 2.8/5. Ironworkers tend to feel that they don’t manage to use their abilities to their fullest, when compared to other careers.
We asked ironworkers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
2.8 out of 5 stars
136 ironworkers
18% of ironworkers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
13% of ironworkers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
21% of ironworkers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
29% of ironworkers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
18% of ironworkers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars