A friend on Twitter posted this link: Associate attorney is the unhappiest job in America, survey says. Along with that, legal assistant was #7.
The top five unhappiest jobs are:
1) Associate attorney
2) Customer service associate
3) Clerk
4) Registered nurse
5) Teacher
The top five happiest jobs are:
1) Real estate agent
2) Senior quality assurance engineer
3) Senior sales representative
4) Construction superintendent
5) Senior applications designer
Not sure I buy real estate agent as happiest.
“Teacher” has been moving up the unhappiest list the last couple years. I wonder why the hell that is? *sigh*
I would term teaching and nursing as “helping professions” that people enter because of a motivation for just that — helping people and making their lives better. It follows that these professions are populated by people who, being sensitive to others, also have feelings themselves! How frustrating when that desire to help in an effective and critical way is thwarted by … well, all the things they can’t control, the pressures, regulations, paperwork, criticism, that seem to be increasing in these areas. Not sure about any of the others listed as unhappy, though. Some of the “happy ones” work with people, too, but maybe more on their own terms and/or as bosses.
I don’t think that this “survey” is actually representative of anything other than who responded to the online survey. There is a huge difference between an actual scientific poll (like they use in elections), and a survey on a website that reports whatever people who fill it out say.
This does not appear to be based on a website survey. The study’s methodology isn’t made entirely clear, but it’s based on “more than 65,000 independent company reviews” compiled by CareerBliss. That doesn’t mean it’s automatically valid, but it would appear to be more valid than a website survey.
The results of this study make me think of what my father used to say to me all the time about not eating all the food on my plate at dinner time: Really? You don’t want it? You know there are starving kids who would want it, right?
Subtract “starving kids” and insert “thousands of new law school graduates” and you’ve got the perfect retort.
Well stated, David.
Sales people have very low suicide rates, are frequently narcissistic and are often heavily self-delusional.
Think “Kenny Tarmac.”
Freedom: Not sure where you get the data about your clinical observations, aside from the one guy. I don’t think it’s representative of the group, but maybe you have the data.
“Not sure I buy real estate agent as happiest.”
Tough gig but if you can pull it off it can be a very nice way to make a living.
And the age thing doesn’t seem to hinder like in other businesses.
Good points. I have heard these types of sales businesses described as the hardest way in the world to make $30.000 yearly, and the easiest way to make $100,000. It is all in your market and social strata.
seems pretty clear that you’re the happiest when you’re the least supervised.
Great observation.
As a member of the bar for 35 years, I am not really surprised at the associate attorney and legal assistant rankings, even if not scientific. You either love this gig, or hate it. Sometimes at the same time.