Orderlies 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, orderlies rate their career happiness 2.6 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 8% of careers.

To put this into perspective, we compared how happy orderlies 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
Healthcare social worker
2.8
$61k
Medical billing and coding technician
2.7
$40k
Registered nurse
2.7
$78k
Nurse
2.7
$44k
Pharmacist
2.7
$129k
Orderly
2.6
$26k
Dietetic technician
2.6
$30k

So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:

  • Salary: Are orderlies happy with their salary?
  • Meaning: Do orderlies find their jobs meaningful?
  • Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as orderlies?
  • Work environment: How enjoyable are orderly’s work environments?
  • Skills utilization: Are orderlies making the best use of their abilities?

Are orderlies happy with their salary?

Orderlies rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.4/5. Most orderlies do not feel that their salaries adequately reflect their work, and are actively unhappy with their income.

We asked orderlies how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:

2.4 out of 5 stars

1404 orderlies

5 Star
6%

6% of orderlies rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
13%

13% of orderlies rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
24%

24% of orderlies rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
27%

27% of orderlies rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
30%

30% of orderlies rated their compensation 1 stars

Do orderlies find their jobs meaningful?

On average, orderlies rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.1/5. Most tend to be satisified with the level of meaning they find in their careers.

We asked orderlies how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:

3.1 out of 5 stars

1415 orderlies

5 Star
18%

18% of orderlies rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

4 Star
27%

27% of orderlies rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
23%

23% of orderlies rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

2 Star
15%

15% of orderlies rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars

1 Star
18%

18% of orderlies rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars

How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as orderlies?

Orderlies rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.7/5. The majority of orderlies find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.

We asked orderlies how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:

3.7 out of 5 stars

1513 orderlies

5 Star
30%

30% of orderlies rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
32%

32% of orderlies rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
21%

21% of orderlies rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
9%

9% of orderlies rated their career fit 2 stars

1 Star
8%

8% of orderlies rated their career fit 1 stars

How enjoyable is an orderly’s work environment?

As a whole, orderlies rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.1/5. Most of them tend to enjoy, or at least not be actively bothered by, their work environment.

We asked orderlies how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:

3.1 out of 5 stars

1503 orderlies

5 Star
15%

15% of orderlies rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
27%

27% of orderlies rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
26%

26% of orderlies rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
18%

18% of orderlies rated their work environment 2 stars

1 Star
13%

13% of orderlies rated their work environment 1 stars

Are orderlies making the best use of their abilities?

Former orderlies on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 2.7/5. Orderlies tend to feel that they don’t manage to use their abilities to their fullest, when compared to other careers.

We asked orderlies how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:

2.7 out of 5 stars

1506 orderlies

5 Star
13%

13% of orderlies rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
17%

17% of orderlies rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars

3 Star
22%

22% of orderlies rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars

2 Star
25%

25% of orderlies rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

1 Star
24%

24% of orderlies rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars