When applying for a new job there are a lot of pros and cons to factor into our decision making process. Nestled amongst pay grades and location, is the thing we all class to be make or break; happiness.
In fact feeling joy at work and not just at our payslips, makes such a significant difference that Clergy members on £20,000 PA are noted to be significantly happier than a financial broker on £120,000 PA. Although of course counting the lack of mortgage as part of the Clergy’s bonus scheme does account for some of that influx of grins and giggles.
Although there isn’t a definitive number one in terms of happiness, after all working out a way to accurately measure how happy we are would be something only Willy Wonka could do, we’ve taken a look at some of the professions that top the lists time and time again and found one common denominator:
Teaching- Average Pay £29,580
There’s been a lot of controversy recently surrounding the teaching profession. With many teachers jumping ship after feeling the weight of too much paperwork, it might seem surprising that it still made our list. However in a series of surveys on which profession makes people happiest, teacher came first in more than half. Our affiliation with My London Works has led us more than once to the hashtag #Ilovemyjob and in doing so the amount of teachers both tweeting and gramming their love for work was overwhelming. It seems that the feeling of helping others really does make the biggest difference to our serotonin levels.
Nursing- Average Pay £25,820
Which of course brings us to nursing. Whilst the idea of bed pans and blood-taking might not appeal to everybody, it seems that despite the long hours and persistent smell of bleach, nurses are in the majority very happy with their lot.
Events Management- Average Pay £30,206
For the more organised of us, Events Management, can be extremely rewarding, ticking off task after task until the whole thing comes together like a carefully curated meal. However like the other careers on our list, it seems the thing that sticks in most people’s minds is a sense of altruism, with events co-ordinator Jane Pascale claiming her happiness comes from “the smiles on a client’s face as they relax into the atmosphere that we’ve spent weeks putting together.”
Charity- Average Pay £25,000
City A.M claims a high score of 83.9 for those working in the charity sector. Giving those with an open heart a chance to work with like-minded people, the social aspect of the job plays a huge factor in how happy charity workers are to get up in the morning. However this ‘Value-driven’ work has a whole range of perks, including the ability to work in various roles.
“It is so rare that you get to work for an organisation where you can walk in every day and know that you are actually trying to make a difference to the world”, says Niall Couper, Head of Media, PR and Supporter Care at Amnesty International UK.
Recruitment- Average Pay £33,495
Job site Career Bliss created a survey to find out who the happiest workers were in the UK and found Recruiters took the number one spot, by a large majority. Speaking about these results, Career Bliss said, “Finding great jobs for other people creates a happy work environment”, and we can’t disagree with them. In fact according to our Glassdoor reviews 97% of Goodman Masson employees would recommend us to a friend.
There are a lot of things that make us happier to get into work, in fact we did a whole article on it here, or for more information check out ‘My London Works‘ in order to create a happier work environment and maybe get your own sector up on this list next year.
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