Job satisfaction

Now we have presented which problems and roles seem promising and how you can find out where exactly you fit in. In conclusion, we thought we’d go through what makes you really enjoy a job. Choosing a profession that makes a big difference and that you are good at is no guarantee that you will feel good, and if you don’t do that, it will be difficult to endure in the long run. As we expect most people to be able to contribute most later in their working lives, it is important that you choose a career that is sustainable in the long term.

Decades of research into what makes people feel satisfied with their lives and careers indicates that the following factors are important for true satisfaction:

1. Engaging tasks

What will really matter if you thrive is what you do in your day-to-day work – hour by hour, day by day. Engaging work is something that captures your full attention and gives you a sense of flow. The research has identified four factors that contribute to flow:

1. Freedom to decide how to do your work
2. Clear tasks with clearly defined start and end points
3. Variation in types of tasks
4. Feedback so you know if it’s going well

2. You help others

If you work as a revenue analyst, fashion designer or TV producer, your tasks all have characteristics that contribute to flow. At the same time, 90 percent of those who work in these professions believe that the roles do not feel meaningful. In contrast to this are firefighter, nurse/midwife and brain surgeon, which are perceived as meaningful by almost everyone who performs them. The main difference is that the latter jobs help others.

3. You are good at what you do

Being good at your work makes you feel accomplished, which is an important factor in life satisfaction according to positive psychology. It also gives you room to negotiate on the other factors. If people value your competence, you have a better chance of asking for meaningful projects, engaging tasks and a fair salary. This does not mean that you need to work at something you are already good at, but rather that you should choose a job that you have the potential to be good at.

4. Supportive colleagues

Good relationships are a central part of having a fulfilling life. It is therefore important to be able to make friends with at least a couple of people at work. If you dislike your boss and your colleagues, you will not thrive. You don’t have to be friends with everyone – research shows that perhaps the most important factor is that you can get help when you run into problems. So look for a job where it’s easy to collaborate, get help and make friends with at least a few people.

5. Absence of major negative factors

To be satisfied with your career choice, you also need to avoid things that can make work unpleasant. These factors are usually linked to job dissatisfaction :

• Long commute time
• Long or inconvenient working hours
• A salary you think is unfair
• Insecure employment, for example that it is unclear how long you will be allowed to stay

Although these sound obvious, many people overlook them. Unfortunately, the negative consequences of long commute times can be enough to outweigh many other positive factors.

6. The work fits the rest of your life

The last factor is a reminder to think through how your career fits into the rest of your life. A job that meets all of the above criteria but requires you to travel 250 days a year may have a negative impact on your well-being because you are away from your family a lot. If you have hobbies that are important to you, it may be a bad idea to choose a workplace that requires you to work evenings. It is difficult to find a “perfect” job that meets all the criteria. Therefore, think about what you are willing to compromise with, and how much.

Exercise

What do you need to be happy at work?

1. The six factors we have gone through are a good starting point, but there may be other things that are important to you. Reflect on the following points:
   • Think back to a day when you had really good fluency and enjoyed yourself extra well at work, what kind of work did you do then?
   • When have you been most fulfilled outside of work? What do those occasions have in common?
   • If you found out you had ten years left to live, how would you spend that time?
   • Do you prefer to work alone or in a team?
   • Do you prefer to work with clear instructions?
   • Do you prefer to “get it done” and achieve concrete, observable results (eg a report, an event or a product)?
   • What types of people have you enjoyed working with in the past?
2. Combine your thoughts with the factors we went through and write down which four to eight aspects are most important for you to feel really good.
3. Select two jobs you are interested in and score them on a scale from 1-5 based on the factors you chose in (2).

When you compare alternatives in the future, you can use the criteria you have now outlined. You probably won’t find a job that is the best on every dimension. Therefore, rather focus on finding one where the balance is good.