Car salesmen 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, car salesmen rate their career happiness 2.4 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 3% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy car salesmen 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Account manager | 2.7 | $47k |
| Advertising sales agent | 2.7 | $52k |
| Cost estimator | 2.7 | $65k |
| Retail manager | 2.6 | $39k |
| Sales representative | 2.5 | $62k |
| Car salesman | 2.4 | $35k |
| Retail salesperson | 2.3 | $29k |
| Insurance sales agent | 2.3 | $50k |
| Insurance appraiser | 2.1 | $63k |
| Telemarketer | 1.8 | $29k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are car salesmen happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do car salesmen find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as car salesmen?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are car salesman’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are car salesmen making the best use of their abilities?
Are car salesmen happy with their salary?
Car salesmen rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.8/5. Car salesmen tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.
We asked car salesmen how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
2.8 out of 5 stars
1384 car salesmen
10% of car salesmen rated their compensation 5 stars
22% of car salesmen rated their compensation 4 stars
29% of car salesmen rated their compensation 3 stars
19% of car salesmen rated their compensation 2 stars
20% of car salesmen rated their compensation 1 stars
Do car salesmen find their jobs meaningful?
On average, car salesmen rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.0/5. The majority of car salesmen struggle to find any sort of meaning in their work, likely resulting in less satisfaction with the career overall.
We asked car salesmen how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
2.0 out of 5 stars
1395 car salesmen
5% of car salesmen rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
7% of car salesmen rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
16% of car salesmen rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
26% of car salesmen rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
46% of car salesmen rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as car salesmen?
Car salesmen rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.4/5. The majority of car salesmen find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked car salesmen how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.4 out of 5 stars
1452 car salesmen
26% of car salesmen rated their career fit 5 stars
28% of car salesmen rated their career fit 4 stars
19% of car salesmen rated their career fit 3 stars
13% of car salesmen rated their career fit 2 stars
14% of car salesmen rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a car salesman’s work environment?
As a whole, car salesmen rated their enjoyment of their work environment 2.8/5. Some car salesmen are happy with their work environment, but it does not seem to be a meaningful contributer to career satisfaction for most.
We asked car salesmen how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
2.8 out of 5 stars
1447 car salesmen
11% of car salesmen rated their work environment 5 stars
21% of car salesmen rated their work environment 4 stars
27% of car salesmen rated their work environment 3 stars
22% of car salesmen rated their work environment 2 stars
19% of car salesmen rated their work environment 1 stars
Are car salesmen making the best use of their abilities?
Former car salesmen on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 2.5/5. Most feel that their skills are being underutilized in the career, probably leading to more general dissatisfaction with being a car salesman.
We asked car salesmen how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
2.5 out of 5 stars
1450 car salesmen
8% of car salesmen rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
13% of car salesmen rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
24% of car salesmen rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
28% of car salesmen rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
27% of car salesmen rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars