Cost estimators 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, cost estimators rate their career happiness 2.7 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 10% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy cost estimators 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Securities and commodities broker | 2.7 | $63k |
| Financial analyst | 2.7 | $92k |
| Compliance manager | 2.7 | $125k |
| Advertising sales agent | 2.7 | $52k |
| Financial advisor | 2.7 | $94k |
| Cost estimator | 2.7 | $65k |
| Revenue agent | 2.7 | $57k |
| Investment banker | 2.7 | $73k |
| Tax preparer | 2.7 | $46k |
| Credit counselor | 2.6 | $48k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are cost estimators happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do cost estimators find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as cost estimators?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are cost estimator’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are cost estimators making the best use of their abilities?
Are cost estimators happy with their salary?
Cost estimators rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.2/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most cost estimators having generally positive views of their salary.
We asked cost estimators how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.2 out of 5 stars
334 cost estimators
11% of cost estimators rated their compensation 5 stars
34% of cost estimators rated their compensation 4 stars
30% of cost estimators rated their compensation 3 stars
18% of cost estimators rated their compensation 2 stars
7% of cost estimators rated their compensation 1 stars
Do cost estimators find their jobs meaningful?
On average, cost estimators rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.3/5. The majority of cost estimators struggle to find any sort of meaning in their work, likely resulting in less satisfaction with the career overall.
We asked cost estimators how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
2.3 out of 5 stars
335 cost estimators
6% of cost estimators rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
10% of cost estimators rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
20% of cost estimators rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
33% of cost estimators rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
30% of cost estimators rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as cost estimators?
Cost estimators rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.4/5. The majority of cost estimators don’t see personality fit as a hinderence in their career.
We asked cost estimators how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.4 out of 5 stars
344 cost estimators
18% of cost estimators rated their career fit 5 stars
31% of cost estimators rated their career fit 4 stars
30% of cost estimators rated their career fit 3 stars
13% of cost estimators rated their career fit 2 stars
8% of cost estimators rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a cost estimator’s work environment?
As a whole, cost estimators rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.2/5. Most of them tend to enjoy, or at least not be actively bothered by, their work environment.
We asked cost estimators how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.2 out of 5 stars
344 cost estimators
13% of cost estimators rated their work environment 5 stars
31% of cost estimators rated their work environment 4 stars
31% of cost estimators rated their work environment 3 stars
17% of cost estimators rated their work environment 2 stars
9% of cost estimators rated their work environment 1 stars
Are cost estimators making the best use of their abilities?
Former cost estimators on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 2.7/5. Cost estimators tend to feel that they don’t manage to use their abilities to their fullest, when compared to other careers.
We asked cost estimators how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
2.7 out of 5 stars
346 cost estimators
9% of cost estimators rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
19% of cost estimators rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
25% of cost estimators rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
30% of cost estimators rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
16% of cost estimators rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars