Special forces officers rate their happiness above average.
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, special forces officers rate their career happiness 3.6 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 23% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy special forces officers 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Firefighter | 3.8 | $51k |
| Military air crew officer | 3.4 | $202k |
| Military aircrew member | 3.3 | $36k |
| Transit police officer | 3.2 | $65k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are special forces officers happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do special forces officers find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as special forces officers?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are special forces officer’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are special forces officers making the best use of their abilities?
Are special forces officers happy with their salary?
Special forces officers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.6/5. The majority of special forces officers are quite happy with their salaries, with very few having complaints about their income level.
We asked special forces officers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.6 out of 5 stars
30 special forces officers
37% of special forces officers rated their compensation 5 stars
23% of special forces officers rated their compensation 4 stars
13% of special forces officers rated their compensation 3 stars
20% of special forces officers rated their compensation 2 stars
7% of special forces officers rated their compensation 1 stars
Do special forces officers find their jobs meaningful?
On average, special forces officers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.8/5. Unlike many careers, special forces officers have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become special forces officers.
We asked special forces officers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
3.8 out of 5 stars
30 special forces officers
50% of special forces officers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
20% of special forces officers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
7% of special forces officers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
10% of special forces officers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
13% of special forces officers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as special forces officers?
Special forces officers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.3/5. The majority of special forces officers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked special forces officers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
4.3 out of 5 stars
31 special forces officers
52% of special forces officers rated their career fit 5 stars
32% of special forces officers rated their career fit 4 stars
10% of special forces officers rated their career fit 3 stars
6% of special forces officers rated their career fit 2 stars
How enjoyable is a special forces officer’s work environment?
As a whole, special forces officers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.9/5. A solid majority of special forces officers enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a special forces officer.
We asked special forces officers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.9 out of 5 stars
31 special forces officers
42% of special forces officers rated their work environment 5 stars
23% of special forces officers rated their work environment 4 stars
19% of special forces officers rated their work environment 3 stars
16% of special forces officers rated their work environment 2 stars
Are special forces officers making the best use of their abilities?
Former special forces officers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.6/5. Most special forces officers surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as a special forces officer, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.
We asked special forces officers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.6 out of 5 stars
31 special forces officers
45% of special forces officers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
10% of special forces officers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
10% of special forces officers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
29% of special forces officers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
6% of special forces officers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars