Oncologists 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, oncologists rate their career happiness 3.2 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 46% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy oncologists 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Internist | 3.3 | $194k |
| Radiation therapist | 3.2 | $83k |
| Medical assistant | 3.2 | $37k |
| Geneticist | 3.2 | $83k |
| Anesthesiologist assistant | 3.2 | $122k |
| Informatics nurse specialist | 3.2 | $89k |
| Family practitioner | 3.1 | $201k |
| MRI technologist | 3.1 | $77k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are oncologists happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do oncologists find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as oncologists?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are oncologist’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are oncologists making the best use of their abilities?
Are oncologists happy with their salary?
Oncologists rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.7/5. The majority of oncologists are quite happy with their salaries, with very few having complaints about their income level.
We asked oncologists how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.7 out of 5 stars
20 oncologists
25% of oncologists rated their compensation 5 stars
40% of oncologists rated their compensation 4 stars
15% of oncologists rated their compensation 3 stars
15% of oncologists rated their compensation 2 stars
5% of oncologists rated their compensation 1 stars
Do oncologists find their jobs meaningful?
On average, oncologists rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.7/5. Unlike many careers, oncologists have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become oncologists.
We asked oncologists how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
3.7 out of 5 stars
19 oncologists
26% of oncologists rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
32% of oncologists rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
26% of oncologists rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
16% of oncologists rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as oncologists?
Oncologists rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.8/5. The majority of oncologists find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked oncologists how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.8 out of 5 stars
21 oncologists
33% of oncologists rated their career fit 5 stars
24% of oncologists rated their career fit 4 stars
38% of oncologists rated their career fit 3 stars
5% of oncologists rated their career fit 2 stars
How enjoyable is an oncologist’s work environment?
As a whole, oncologists 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 oncologists how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.3 out of 5 stars
21 oncologists
19% of oncologists rated their work environment 5 stars
29% of oncologists rated their work environment 4 stars
29% of oncologists rated their work environment 3 stars
14% of oncologists rated their work environment 2 stars
10% of oncologists rated their work environment 1 stars
Are oncologists making the best use of their abilities?
Former oncologists on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.3/5. Most oncologists are satisfied with how well their abilities are skills are made of use.
We asked oncologists how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.3 out of 5 stars
21 oncologists
14% of oncologists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
33% of oncologists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
29% of oncologists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
14% of oncologists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
10% of oncologists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars