Medical laboratory technologists 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, medical laboratory technologists 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 medical laboratory technologists 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Podiatrist | 2.9 | $146k |
| Cardiovascular technologist | 2.9 | $61k |
| Orthotist | 2.9 | $75k |
| Clinical research coordinator | 2.8 | $138k |
| Licensed practical nurse | 2.8 | $48k |
| Medical laboratory technologist | 2.8 | $46k |
| Pharmacy technician | 2.8 | $37k |
| Medical administrative assistant | 2.8 | $37k |
| Neurodiagnostic technologist | 2.8 | $46k |
| Clinical nurse specialist | 2.8 | $78k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are medical laboratory technologists happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do medical laboratory technologists find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as medical laboratory technologists?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are medical laboratory technologist’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are medical laboratory technologists making the best use of their abilities?
Are medical laboratory technologists happy with their salary?
Medical laboratory technologists rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.9/5. Medical laboratory technologists tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.
We asked medical laboratory technologists how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
2.9 out of 5 stars
405 medical laboratory technologists
10% of medical laboratory technologists rated their compensation 5 stars
23% of medical laboratory technologists rated their compensation 4 stars
30% of medical laboratory technologists rated their compensation 3 stars
22% of medical laboratory technologists rated their compensation 2 stars
16% of medical laboratory technologists rated their compensation 1 stars
Do medical laboratory technologists find their jobs meaningful?
On average, medical laboratory technologists rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.9/5. While most medical laboratory technologists aren’t very fulfilled by their work, some people may still manage to find meaning in it.
We asked medical laboratory technologists how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
2.9 out of 5 stars
406 medical laboratory technologists
12% of medical laboratory technologists rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
21% of medical laboratory technologists rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
29% of medical laboratory technologists rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
21% of medical laboratory technologists rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
18% of medical laboratory technologists rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as medical laboratory technologists?
Medical laboratory technologists rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.7/5. The majority of medical laboratory technologists find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked medical laboratory technologists how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.7 out of 5 stars
433 medical laboratory technologists
27% of medical laboratory technologists rated their career fit 5 stars
34% of medical laboratory technologists rated their career fit 4 stars
25% of medical laboratory technologists rated their career fit 3 stars
9% of medical laboratory technologists rated their career fit 2 stars
5% of medical laboratory technologists rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a medical laboratory technologist’s work environment?
As a whole, medical laboratory technologists 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 medical laboratory technologists how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.3 out of 5 stars
436 medical laboratory technologists
18% of medical laboratory technologists rated their work environment 5 stars
28% of medical laboratory technologists rated their work environment 4 stars
27% of medical laboratory technologists rated their work environment 3 stars
19% of medical laboratory technologists rated their work environment 2 stars
9% of medical laboratory technologists rated their work environment 1 stars
Are medical laboratory technologists making the best use of their abilities?
Former medical laboratory technologists on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 2.9/5. Medical laboratory technologists tend to feel that they don’t manage to use their abilities to their fullest, when compared to other careers.
We asked medical laboratory technologists how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
2.9 out of 5 stars
434 medical laboratory technologists
14% of medical laboratory technologists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
20% of medical laboratory technologists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
24% of medical laboratory technologists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
26% of medical laboratory technologists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
15% of medical laboratory technologists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars