Receptionists 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, receptionists rate their career happiness 2.6 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 7% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy receptionists 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Family social worker | 2.8 | $49k |
| Medical administrative assistant | 2.8 | $37k |
| Recruiter | 2.7 | $62k |
| Courier | 2.7 | $33k |
| Administrative assistant | 2.6 | $38k |
| Receptionist | 2.6 | $30k |
| Office clerk | 2.6 | $37k |
| Teller | 2.5 | $36k |
| Host and hostess | 2.5 | $25k |
| Food server | 2.4 | $26k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are receptionists happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do receptionists find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as receptionists?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are receptionist’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are receptionists making the best use of their abilities?
Are receptionists happy with their salary?
Receptionists rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.7/5. Receptionists tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.
We asked receptionists how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
2.7 out of 5 stars
5925 receptionists
7% of receptionists rated their compensation 5 stars
19% of receptionists rated their compensation 4 stars
29% of receptionists rated their compensation 3 stars
24% of receptionists rated their compensation 2 stars
20% of receptionists rated their compensation 1 stars
Do receptionists find their jobs meaningful?
On average, receptionists rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.0/5. The majority of receptionists struggle to find any sort of meaning in their work, likely resulting in less satisfaction with the career overall.
We asked receptionists how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
2.0 out of 5 stars
5942 receptionists
4% of receptionists rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
7% of receptionists rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
18% of receptionists rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
29% of receptionists rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
41% of receptionists rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as receptionists?
Receptionists rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.6/5. The majority of receptionists find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked receptionists how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.6 out of 5 stars
6366 receptionists
27% of receptionists rated their career fit 5 stars
32% of receptionists rated their career fit 4 stars
22% of receptionists rated their career fit 3 stars
12% of receptionists rated their career fit 2 stars
7% of receptionists rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a receptionist’s work environment?
As a whole, receptionists 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 receptionists how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.2 out of 5 stars
6342 receptionists
16% of receptionists rated their work environment 5 stars
28% of receptionists rated their work environment 4 stars
28% of receptionists rated their work environment 3 stars
17% of receptionists rated their work environment 2 stars
11% of receptionists rated their work environment 1 stars
Are receptionists making the best use of their abilities?
Former receptionists on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 2.3/5. Most feel that their skills are being underutilized in the career, probably leading to more general dissatisfaction with being a receptionist.
We asked receptionists how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
2.3 out of 5 stars
6367 receptionists
7% of receptionists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
11% of receptionists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
20% of receptionists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
29% of receptionists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
33% of receptionists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars