Optometrists 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, optometrists rate their career happiness 3.0 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 30% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy optometrists 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Occupational therapist assistant | 3.0 | $62k |
| Surgical technologist | 3.0 | $49k |
| Dental assistant | 3.0 | $39k |
| Medical transcriptionist | 3.0 | $30k |
| Diagnostic medical sonographer | 3.0 | $78k |
| Optometrist | 3.0 | $124k |
| Hearing aid specialist | 2.9 | $60k |
| Occupational health specialist | 2.9 | $73k |
| Medical appliance technician | 2.9 | $45k |
| Occupational therapist | 2.9 | $86k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are optometrists happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do optometrists find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as optometrists?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are optometrist’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are optometrists making the best use of their abilities?
Are optometrists happy with their salary?
Optometrists rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.5/5. The majority of optometrists are quite happy with their salaries, with very few having complaints about their income level.
We asked optometrists how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.5 out of 5 stars
79 optometrists
15% of optometrists rated their compensation 5 stars
37% of optometrists rated their compensation 4 stars
33% of optometrists rated their compensation 3 stars
13% of optometrists rated their compensation 2 stars
3% of optometrists rated their compensation 1 stars
Do optometrists find their jobs meaningful?
On average, optometrists rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.0/5. While most optometrists aren’t very fulfilled by their work, some people may still manage to find meaning in it.
We asked optometrists how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
3.0 out of 5 stars
80 optometrists
14% of optometrists rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
20% of optometrists rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
30% of optometrists rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
24% of optometrists rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
13% of optometrists rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as optometrists?
Optometrists rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.8/5. The majority of optometrists find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked optometrists how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.8 out of 5 stars
86 optometrists
29% of optometrists rated their career fit 5 stars
38% of optometrists rated their career fit 4 stars
20% of optometrists rated their career fit 3 stars
8% of optometrists rated their career fit 2 stars
5% of optometrists rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is an optometrist’s work environment?
As a whole, optometrists rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.5/5. A solid majority of optometrists enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as an optometrist.
We asked optometrists how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.5 out of 5 stars
86 optometrists
22% of optometrists rated their work environment 5 stars
34% of optometrists rated their work environment 4 stars
22% of optometrists rated their work environment 3 stars
16% of optometrists rated their work environment 2 stars
6% of optometrists rated their work environment 1 stars
Are optometrists making the best use of their abilities?
Former optometrists on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.3/5. Most optometrists are satisfied with how well their abilities are skills are made of use.
We asked optometrists how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.3 out of 5 stars
87 optometrists
15% of optometrists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
34% of optometrists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
20% of optometrists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
24% of optometrists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
7% of optometrists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars