What Makes the Perfect Job? It's Not What You Think



We all strive for balance in our work and home lives but many of us never find it.  Your son’s softball game?  You said you’ll be there, but, oh wait, the boss needs that report before day’s end.  That meeting where you’ll be recognized for your work on that project?  It’s today. But so is your daughter’s dance recital.

We’ve all been there.  Finding the right balance between our job’s requirements, and our home’s, has never been harder. But a new survey by CareerBliss, as reported by monster.com, has found some surprising news about the most satisfying jobs in the U.S. today.  Teacher or professor?  You didn’t even make the top 10.

But database administrator, or quality assurance engineer, executive assistant or executive recruiter, underwriter or software developer.  You’re on top of the world. 

These jobs were ranked happiest for many reasons.  For example, database administrators find a lot of freedom and creativity in their work, using specialized software to store and organize data, according to forbes.com.  And executive assistants? They support high-level executives and get a lot of perks.  As for underwriters, deciding when and how to write insurance policies gives people power, and makes them use their brains.

Down at the bottom of the list? Bank branch manager, accountant, customer service representative, store general manager, sales executive, marketing manager, sales manager, machine operator.

Some are quite obvious.  Anyone in sales is under a lot of stress to produce, and accountants’ jobs are just plain boring (at least to me).  Security officers come in here, too.  In fact, they have the unhappiest job, according to the survey, which could be because they have a lot of responsibility but very little say.  

The jobs were ranked according to:

  • Work-life balance
  • Relationship with boss and co-workers
  • Work environment
  • Job resources
  • Compensation
  • Growth opportunities
  • Company culture
  • Company reputation
  • Daily tasks
  • Job control

Experts differ on what makes a good job, but most agree job satisfaction, growth, the proper environment and lastly, surprisingly, money, make up the list.

For me, it’s finding the right balance between creativity and independence, the ability to write unfettered by corporate or other constraints.  But since that’s impossible, I have the next best thing – the ability to work from home doing work 

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