Financial clerks 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, financial clerks rate their career happiness 2.5 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 5% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy financial clerks 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Credit analyst | 2.6 | $77k |
| Customs broker | 2.6 | $75k |
| Accountant | 2.6 | $77k |
| Office clerk | 2.6 | $37k |
| Actuary | 2.5 | $106k |
| Financial clerk | 2.5 | $46k |
| Loan officer | 2.5 | $63k |
| Underwriter | 2.5 | $76k |
| Teller | 2.5 | $36k |
| Auditor | 2.5 | $77k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are financial clerks happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do financial clerks find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as financial clerks?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are financial clerk’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are financial clerks making the best use of their abilities?
Are financial clerks happy with their salary?
Financial clerks rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.9/5. Financial clerks tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.
We asked financial clerks how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
2.9 out of 5 stars
1340 financial clerks
9% of financial clerks rated their compensation 5 stars
25% of financial clerks rated their compensation 4 stars
30% of financial clerks rated their compensation 3 stars
21% of financial clerks rated their compensation 2 stars
15% of financial clerks rated their compensation 1 stars
Do financial clerks find their jobs meaningful?
On average, financial clerks rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.2/5. The majority of financial clerks struggle to find any sort of meaning in their work, likely resulting in less satisfaction with the career overall.
We asked financial clerks how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
2.2 out of 5 stars
1341 financial clerks
6% of financial clerks rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
10% of financial clerks rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
18% of financial clerks rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
29% of financial clerks rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
37% of financial clerks rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as financial clerks?
Financial clerks rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.3/5. The majority of financial clerks don’t see personality fit as a hinderence in their career.
We asked financial clerks how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.3 out of 5 stars
1449 financial clerks
17% of financial clerks rated their career fit 5 stars
30% of financial clerks rated their career fit 4 stars
28% of financial clerks rated their career fit 3 stars
14% of financial clerks rated their career fit 2 stars
10% of financial clerks rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a financial clerk’s work environment?
As a whole, financial clerks rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.1/5. Most of them tend to enjoy, or at least not be actively bothered by, their work environment.
We asked financial clerks how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.1 out of 5 stars
1442 financial clerks
14% of financial clerks rated their work environment 5 stars
27% of financial clerks rated their work environment 4 stars
28% of financial clerks rated their work environment 3 stars
19% of financial clerks rated their work environment 2 stars
13% of financial clerks rated their work environment 1 stars
Are financial clerks making the best use of their abilities?
Former financial clerks 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 financial clerk.
We asked financial clerks how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
2.5 out of 5 stars
1454 financial clerks
8% of financial clerks rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
14% of financial clerks rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
23% of financial clerks rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
30% of financial clerks rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
26% of financial clerks rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars