Plan Your Work Life: Happiest and Unhappiest Jobs of 2014

May 1, 2014

We spend a lot of time at work which means that it’s in our best interest to like what we do and where we do it.  Sometimes, we end up having to do a job in order to pay the bills but, other times, we knowingly set out to work in a certain industry, unaware of the level of satisfaction among workers in that field.

There’s a great site called Career Bliss that allows you to search for work using their Cultural Job Search Engine in order to locate open positions that are most aligned with what you value most.  They are also known for their annual survey listing the happiest and unhappiest industries and jobs. They base their findings on how satisfied employees are with the person they work for, the people they work with, the work setting, level of support, rewards, growth opportunities, company culture and the way they work.

Happiest Jobs for 2014

1. Database Administrator
2. QA Engineer
3. Executive Recruiter
4. Underwriter
5. Executive Assistant
6. Software Developer
7. Designer
8. Program Manager
9. Engineer
10. Administrative Assistant

Unhappiest Jobs for 2014

10. Machine Operator
9. Sales Manager
8. Marketing Manager
7. Technical Support Representative
6. Sales Executive
5. General Manager
4. Customer Service Representative
3. Accountant
2. Bank Branch Manager
1. Security Officer

Do you work in any of those positions? Does this seem like a fair representation based on your experience?  It was a little surprising to see Administrative Assistant among the happiest jobs and equally surprising to see Bank Branch Manager ranked so poorly.

Of course, rather than searching for specific job titles, you could simply look for work at one of the highest ranked companies in America. Here are the 50 Happiest Companies based on the results of the survey:

1. Pfizer
2. Kaiser Permanente
3. Texas Instruments
4. EMC
5. Qualcomm
6. KBR
7. Bristol-Myers Squibb
8. General Electric
9. Capital One
10. Avaya
11. Siemens
12. Cognizant
13. Intel
14. Apple
15. Walt Disney Parks & Resorts
16. Fidelity Investments
17. Allstate
18. Nokia
19. Prudential
20. FedEx
21. Google
22. Oracle
23. Accenture
24. Philips Electronics
25. CBS
26. Microsoft
27. SAIC
28. Hilton Worldwide
29. Adecco
30. Boeing
31. Honeywell
32. Wells Fargo
33. Dell
34. Farmers
35. General Dynamics
36. Sprint
37. IBM
38. Hewlett-Packard
39. Blue Cross Blue Shield
40. Time Warner Cable
41. Verizon
42. Comcast
43. L-3
44. AT&T
45. UPS
46. Robert Half
47. Target
48. Starbucks
49. Enterprise Rent-A-Car
50. Deloitte
51. It’s interesting because, although, there are many technology-heavy companies on this list such as Texas Instruments, Nokia and Google, there are also other industries well represented such as insurance and hospitality. With the inclusion of Target, Starbucks and Enterprise Rent-A-Car at the end, there really is an eclectic mix of workplaces to choose from.

No matter what any list says, however, what matters most is that you are pursuing your own dreams and interests and finding happiness. Don’t be afraid to go after what you want and deserve – you won’t know until you try!

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